God's riches. healing., Jairus' daughter, King's crown

The Messiah’s Secret – True Riches

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The Messiah’s Secret – True Riches

Child dresses in King’s attire
A king wears a crown and splendid garments. King’s crown Diadem. Christian’s crown Stephanos- victors crown prize for running a race.
Two courtiers hold up instructions to congregation ‘Cheer’ and ‘Clap’
A king commands and it happens.
Scroll: The king reads out his commands: ‘England must win the World Cup’ ‘Cheer’ and ‘Scotland’s Andy Murray must win Wimbledon Men’s title’ ‘Clap.’

Jesus King of Kings
Jesus created celestial beings: angels, seraphim, cherubim and Archangels also the universe and everything in heaven and on the earth, the galaxies, the stars, planets and suns and all living things: the earth with its rocks, soil, grass, trees, the birds and fish, the animals, insects and human beings.

Jesus is revealed to us as the Word, in the beginning the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
Jesus created everything in heaven and on the earth by the power of his Word. “God said ‘Let there be light” and there was light.” Genesis 1:3.
But God told him that he must leave his throne and all God’s riches and go to the earth and be born of a woman and become one of us.

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.” 2 Corinthians 8: 9
Jesus became poor because the people on the earth did not know God his Father like he knew him.

Remove the King’s attire: the crown and the robe.
(Children return to their seats)

Jesus healed by the power of his word when he lived among the people in Israel.
Video Clip ‘Mercy’ by Casting Crowns’ YouTube

In our reading two people came to Jesus for healing. Jairus for his daughter and the lady for herself and both were healed by Jesus

God’s riches are received by faith.
Jesus healed by the power of his word when he lived among the people in Israel. Jairus the ruler of the synagogue came to Jesus in desperation, he feared his daughter was not going to get better, she was very poorly. He asked Jesus to accompany him to his home in order for him to heal his daughter. Jairus came to Jesus openly regardless of upsetting his friends and colleges, many of them opposed Jesus’ healing ministry saying that it wasn’t of God.
The lady amongst the crowd that surrounded Jesus she came to Jesus calculating, if she could just touch his garments she would be healed of her illness.
But Jesus wasn’t happy with the way she approached him for her healing. We can understand why she approached Jesus in the way that she did, as she was afraid of being stopped from going near him by those who regarded her as being unclean. But as a result of her tactics her need was brought out into the open. Jesus could tell someone had touched him and he asked who it was, but no one responded straight away. The lady owned up saying it was her. Jesus said to her, “Daughter your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
Jesus wants us to be honest with him regardless of the opinions of others.
Jairus was told that his daughter had died and it was pointless Jesus going to the house. But Jesus went accompanied by Peter and brothers James and John. On arrival the mourners were weeping outside Jairus’ home. Jesus told them that she was not dead but sleeping and they laughed at him. Jesus, Jairus and his wife, Peter, James and John entered the room where the little girl lay. Jesus taking her by the hand said to her, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” She got up immediately and walked. Those present were amazed.

Jairus’ daughter being raised from the dead and the woman healed of the disease these are true riches, they can’t be purchased by money, they were only obtained by their faith in Jesus.

Today it is still by faith in Jesus
Jesus made us right with God, by forfeiting his life by the way of the cross and as a result when we say sorry to God he forgives us and we are accepted into God’s family becoming children of God.
“But to all who receive him, who believe in his name, he gives power to become children of God.”John 1: 12

Story
A man with his family was out on a walk, it was a warm day and they got quite thirsty. Seeing a lady in her garden they decided to stop and ask her for a drink of water. “Certainly,” she said, “Come inside the house, I’ve got something else that I would like to give you.” They followed her into her house, where she gave them all a drink.

Afterwards the lady said to the father, “The owner of this house has asked to offer the contents of each room to someone like yourselves, would you like to choose one of the rooms with its contents for you and your family.” The lady proceeded to open a door, the man and his family gasped as the light caught the gold of a large display of ornaments and vases. “These are worth millions of pounds,” she said,” They are yours if you want them.” Each room had priceless paintings and antiques. The last room door was opened, this room on first glance seemed empty, but as they walked in, near the window there was a cot and in it a baby lay fast asleep. The lady said that this baby was an orphan with no family. She said to them, “Would you like to have this room with its contents or one of the others?”
The man turned to his family and with a glance of approval they said to the lady, “This is the room we would like to have, we will love the child as our own.” “I’m so glad,” she said, “You see the house and all its contents belong to this baby and now every room and its contents are yours as well.”

The story illustrates were Jesus is portrait as a baby and needs the help of the lady to communicate the message concerning the house and its contents, so Jesus needs us to tell others about himself and the love of God the Father.It is then up to that person to freely make a choice to accept Jesus or not.

When we accept Jesus into our hearts, everything that belongs to Jesus belongs to us, to every Christian personally. Paul in his letter to the Corinthian Church revealed to them how by grace: (God’s riches at Christ’expense) Jesus came among his people who knew about God, but who didn’t know God personally.
“By his poverty we might become rich.”

The unsearchable riches of Christ.
Paul pointed out to the church at Ephesus that the Hebrew Scriptures were the unsearchable riches to the Gentiles up until the revealing of Jesus the Messiah and were only searchable through faith in Jesus. When a Gentile found Jesus as their Saviour and through the Word finds the riches of his grace. Ephesians 3:8.

The riches of his glory
Paul refers to “Christ in You” Colossians 1:27.
The presence of the Spirit of Jesus within us, changes our understand about God. We experience a mighty strengthening by the Spirit of God’s love and his love is expressed in us in having a love for the lost, the people who do not know God.
The power of the Trinity working within us is able to do far more than we ask or think. Ephesians 3: 14-21.

So Jesus brings us the knowledge of God and also of his power to heal our relationship with God.
So you can make a choice today for Jesus and enter into fellowship with him and become part of his family of believers. God loves us and pours out his love and blessings.

Grace – God’s riches at Christ’s expense.
G – God’s
R – Riches
A – at
C – Christ’s
E – Expense

GOD’S RICHES
Jairus’ Daughter and the Lady Healed by Jesus Mark 5: 21-43
God’s Riches 2 Corinthians 8: 7- 15
All the answers are part of the God’s riches, but one will fit the situation more than the other two.
1/ What are God’s riches? : Money – Possessions –Jesus Mark 10: 30.
2/ How do we receive God’s riches is it through: Sending an email to God – Faith – Patience Romans 10: 8-10
3/ Two people in our Gospel reading acted on their faith in Jesus and received one of God’s riches: Grace – Thanks – Blessing
4/ Jesus was prompted to go to Jairus’ home, but someone delayed him: Man – Woman- Child
5/ How was he delayed, did someone: Speak to him – Touch his clothes – Offer him a drink.
6/Jesus insisted that the person owned up. Another of God’s riches:
Honesty – Discernment – Kindness
7/When Jesus found out who it was, he didn’t get angry. Another of God’s riches:
Joy – love – Forgiveness
8/ The person received another of God’s riches: Healing – Strength – Peace
9/ Afterwards Jesus and Jairus were told that Jairus’ daughter had died and not to trouble Jesus by making the journey to see her. Jesus went anyway and displayed another of God’s riches: Perseverance – Knowledge – Power
10/ Jesus arrived at the house and went in to where the little girl lay and he said to her ‘little girl, I say to you, arise’ and immediately she got up and walked. Another of God’s riches: Resurrection – Miracle – New life.

The Friday Club children concluded the service deaf signing to ‘Awesome God.’

baskets, Commonwealth., feeding the 5000, Forest of Rossendale, Galilee

The Messiah’s Secret – Community Issues – Diversity of People

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The Messiah’s Secret – Community Issues: Diversity of People
Following the Lectionary Jeremiah 7: 1-16 Romans 9: 14-26

The Land belongs to the Lord our God.
The Forest of Rossendale was not inhabited prior to the Norman Conquest, after the Conquest the forest became part of a very large estate granted in 1295 to the de Lacys of Clitheroe.
The King used the forest for hunting deer. In 1304 Musbury deer park came into being, it is where the King reared his deer. I’ve walked around the perimeter of the deer park following the ditch that in most parts still remains.
Some of the local farms today are named in connection with the deer: Laund – is a place where the deer were fed: Laund Farm, on Cribden Lane and Laund Cottage Crawshawbooth. Other place names; Deerplay at Bacup, Staghills housing estate at Newchurch and Hart Hill at Loveclough.
Below a deer in our garden. it is one of several sightings of wild deer that today live on the moors of Rossendale.

It is recorded in the de Lacy accounts for 1295 of 11 unnamed vaccaries or cow pastures in the forest, and it gives details of each herdsman who was in the charge of the cow pastures, there were also assistant herdsmen. The herdsman lived in a house that was known as a booth. The dwellings built by these people became the place names that we are familiar with today Crawshawbooth, Rawtenstall, New Hall Hey, Constable Lee and Newchurch.
Rawtonstall is derived from the word ‘rough’ and ‘tun stall’ ‘the site of a farm.
At the junction of St. Mary’s Way, Haslingden Old Road and Newchurch Road and Burnley Road a sheep fair took place, it is still known today as Tup Bridge and nearby a corn mill was established by King Henry V11 in 1436.

Deforestation took place in 1507 allowing more people to build homes and work the land.
St Nicholas Church Newchurch was built in 1511.
The dissolution of Whalley Abbey by Henry V111 took place in 1537.

Commonwealth Church Survey recorded in 1650 that 300 families were living at Newchurch and 300 families at Haslingden.
The population of Rossendale gradually increased as the children of the families settled and built new homes in the valley. Later over a fifty year period 1801 – 1851 the population trebled, Rawtenstall by 45% and Bacup by 42% due to the cotton industry boom. People moved into the valley from surrounding districts and also from Scotland and Ireland to work in the mills.
The 1851 Census records those persons over 20 years who were not born in Lancashire were 3,881. 2,601 came from surrounding districts, 873 came from Scotland and Ireland, and 407 came from other parts of Britain.

Galilee
The Bible records Galilee has been inhabited by people from the time when Noah’s grandson Canaan inhabited the land. Genesis 10: 19
In Roman times the whole northern section of the country was divided into Judea, Samaria and Galilee.

Most of Galilee consists of rocky terrain, there are several high mountains: Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon. The waterfalls and streams of Upper Galilee produce green fields with colourful wildflowers.
The Sea of Galilee, the fish found in the lake: sardines, minnows and the Musht the largest fish in the lake.

“Galilee of the Nations” The “nations” would have been the foreigners who came to settle there, or who had been forcibly deported to the region by the Romans.
Matthew records Jesus fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali towards the sea, across the Jordon, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light.” Matthew 4: 15,16.Isaiah 9:1, 2. The light being the person of Jesus the Messiah.
In Paul’s letter to the Romans he quoted from the writings of the prophet Hosea.
“As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call my people,’ and her who was not my beloved I will call my beloved.” “You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’” Hosea 2: 23. 1: 10. The prophesies relating to the Gentiles accepting Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.

Jesus’ fame spread throughout all Syria. . . And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordon. Matthew 4: 23-25

Thousands of people of all ages followed Jesus.

On one occasion it was getting late in the day when Jesus saw the people’s hunger (5,000 plus women and children) and he had compassion on them. The lad brought to the disciples the five loaves and three fishes and Jesus broke them in to pieces and they were distributed among the people.. The people sat down in groups of fifty and the disciples distributed the food and everyone ate and was satisfied. The left over fragments filled the twelve empty baskets; these baskets may have belonged to the disciples. John 6: 5-14 The disciples had nothing to offer of themselves they gave what they received from Jesus.
At the gate beautiful Peter said to the lame man, ”I have no silver or gold, but I give you what I have; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” And he took him by the hand, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong, and leaping up he stood and walked.” Acts 3: 6-8

These people in their diversity were all given the same the bread and fishes. The Jewish person would feel unclean associating with Gentiles and eating with them. The Samaritans had grievances against the Jews.
The Gentiles were accepted into the fold, treated equally by Jesus and his disciples.

Jesus on the mountain side celebrated the diversity of people breaking down the barriers of language, religious divide, cultural differences and he healed all who came to him regardless of race, colour or creed.

Paul in his letter to the church at Rome he explains to them how God planned to call the Gentiles into his kingdom, “Those who were not my people, I will call my people.” Romans 9: 25.
A friend of mine told me during her stay at her daughter’s in Northampton she went to a Christian house group and she was pleasantly surprised to find people who had been brought together through their work from across the world, who also shared their belief in Jesus and had come together to study the Bible and pray.
United by the word and the Holy Spirit the cultural differences in their lives did not matter.

Rossendale
After the Second World War the mills in Rossendale had jobs in abundance so many people from the Commonwealth came to work in the cotton and shoe factories. The people coming from the Commonwealth contributed to the growing affluence of the Rossendale Valley. They also brought their food exotic fruits and spices. Curry has become part of the Rossendale diet; it is almost as popular as fish and chips.
(Dishes prepared before hand to sample after the service)

The origin of the Commonwealth (Diverse nations working together)
The nations that made up the British Empire wanted their independence. It was India’s desire to adopt a republican form of constitution while simultaneously retaining its link with the British Empire this prompted a radical reconsideration of the terms of association and so the Commonwealth came into being. The Balfour Declaration of 1926 had established all member countries as ‘equal in status to one another, in no way subordinate one to another’, and this was in turn adopted into law in 1931
After the second world war in April 1949, 8 heads of Government from Australia, Britain, Ceylon, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and the Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs met in London and deliberated over six days. The outcome was the Declaration of London.

The Declaration also repeatedly emphasised the freedom and equality of its members a ‘free association of independent nations’ but also in their co-operative ‘pursuit of peace, liberty and progress’ 800 million people had access into the UK.

The Commonwealth comprises of countries from all major continents of the world, rich and poor, small and large, consulting and co-operating in the common interests of their peoples and in the promotion of international understanding.

After the end of World War II the Commonwealth became the natural association of choice for many of the new nations emerging out of decolonisation. Starting with Ghana in 1957, the Commonwealth expanded rapidly with new members from Africa, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and the Pacific.
The creation of the Commonwealth Secretariat in 1965 has expanded number of professional organisations that help to administer human rights development of trade and industry.

After Enoch Powell’s ‘River of Blood’ speech in 1968 were he warned his audience of what he believed would be the consequences of continued unchecked immigration from the Commonwealth of Britain. After great debate over several years in 1972 restrictions were put in place.
Wikipedia ‘Immigration to the United Kingdom since 1922.’

The Commonwealth has now grown from 8 in 1949 to 54 in 2009. The leaders agreed to admit Rwanda as the 54th member at their meeting in Trinidad & Tobago in November 2009.

Queen Elizabeth II the Head of the Commonwealth
The Queen as Head of the Church of England she is the defender of the Christian faith and also ‘of faiths’ including the Commonwealth, this is part of our nation’s commitment to religious freedom. The Queen stated in May 2012 at Lambeth “Its role is not to defend Anglicanism to the exclusion of all other religions, instead the Church has a duty to protect the free practice of all faiths in this country.” BBC News Website 15th May 2012
The Queen as Head of the Commonwealth she does not discriminate against the beliefs of others.
The Commonwealth embraces nations from every continent. Christian ethics and values are at the heart of its conception.
Nearly two billion people now live in the Commonwealth, and half of these are under 25. The future of the Commonwealth belongs with young people, and this is why the theme in 2009 ‘thecommonwealth@60 – serving a new generation’.
Commonwealth Secretariat website.

Refugees
In the lead up to the Second World War, refugees came from Germany and after the war refugees from the Soviet-controlled territories settled in Britain, Poles and Ukrainians. There was also an influx of refugees from Hungary.
Since the expansion of the EU in 2004, one of the four freedoms of the European Union of which the UK is a member is the right to free movement of people throughout the European Union. Since then because of the number of people wanting to come and live in the UK restrictions have been put in place.
Wikipedia “Immigration to the United Kingdom since 1922.”

Where we were born
We are stewards of our land where we all live, the Lord our God owns the land. History shows us that the movement of people across the world to find employment and safety against persecution will continue.

Jesus Lord of all
The Lord Jesus embraces all people of the world, in his great love for us; he paid the price for our sin against God and our neighbour on the cross at Calvary. We receive his gift of knowing God our Father through the forgiveness of all that stood against us since the separation of the first human beings from their fellowship with God. The Lord, through the power of the Holy Spirit fills us with his love to know the freedom of forgiveness that we have in Jesus, this freedom has no boundaries or fears, and it can be seen being worked out in the constitution of the Commonwealth and Britain’s role in it.

Prayers June 17 2012
Each of us here tonight have been brought together to celebrate the diversity of people in this place called Rossendale and to pray for all who live here.
The trees that once made up the forest have been used to build dwellings: farms, houses, fences and gates. The sounds of rustling leaves in the trees have been exchanged for the sounds of machinery, cars, buses and trains.
The deer have managed some how to survive through the changes and people from across the world have made this land their home.
The disciple’s empty baskets Jesus filled them with food, bread and fishes, later Jesus’ Disciple Peter had no money to give the beggar, but he gave to him Jesus, the bread of eternal life that gives us wholeness and healing.
Father you depend on us, may our Christian witness reach out to make Christ known through living out and sharing Jesus bread, the Gospel in our community.
Lord in your mercy —graciously hear us.

Lord Jesus we lift to your throne of grace those in our community who are suffering because they are different: whether it is in speaking a different language or wearing different clothes, some follow trends or are wearing religious garments or others from their background culture. May they overcome all anxiety and be given tolerance and strength to forgive those who persecute them.
Heavenly Father we pray for peace and tolerance among all the people of this valley, for the help we need to understand each others’ ways.
Lord in your mercy —graciously hear us

The life of the Queen our monarch has been used by the Lord to bring direction, peace and support to the poorest of nations of the world.
Lord, thank you for all who work for the Commonwealth, who use their skills to help poor nations in agriculture to develop systems that provide all year round food supplies. Those who assist in developing Christian based elections and legal structures. And those who help to sort out problems that arises from inexperienced government officials, by the giving of their knowledge to the well being of a national government.
Lord in your mercy —graciously hear us

Whilst we welcome people from other countries to live and work here, since the 1970’s restrictions have been put in place to reduce the number, as a result there are thousands of illegal immigrants who are finding themselves open to abuse: the trafficking of people, the modern slave trade.
Lord of all people we pray for those who have been tricked, manipulated become slaves to those who promised to help them, we pray that the light of Christ would reveal those who are engaging in this slave trade in our valley and that they would be brought to justice. For those who have been hurt and damaged by their experiences may they find the strength to turn to Jesus and find him at their side as he knows the depths of the human heart.
Lord in your mercy —graciously hear us

Our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ please heal and bless this land, the former forest of Rossendale. May those who have trodden down the poor be forgiven, and may the paths of the righteous be forever blessed.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen

Diamond Jubilee, Hur, Moses' rod, rock., Sceptre

The Messiah’s Secret – The Septre

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The Messiah’s Secret – The Sceptre
“At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” Philippians 2:10, 11.
The anointing that takes place at a King or Queens’ Coronation acknowledges that they are coming under Christ’s authority. 1 Samuel 9: 17.

The Christian anointing is the most sacred part of the Coronation ceremony as it represents divine confirmation of the people’s choice. It was first recorded in 785 AD in England when Egfrith was anointed and crowned King of Mercia. (England)
In the Abbey at Bath a stained glass window depicts the Coronation of Edgar in 959 AD. He is about to be crowned and he is holding the Orb and the Sceptre.

1/ The King’s Crown symbol of supreme authority Jesus King of Kings
2/The Orb represents Christ’s dominion over the world.
3/A Sceptre is a badge of authority it signifies kingly power and justice.

The Sceptre
In the picture the Queen is holding the sceptre in her right hand, it is made of gold surmounted by a magnificent diamond-encrusted cross with an emerald in the centre. Below the cross is a superb amethyst and below that is what is believed to be the largest cut diamond in the world. it is known as the Star of Africa.

The sceptre is a symbol of the rod that God gave to Moses.
“And you shall take in your hand this rod, with which you shall do the signs.” Exodus 4:17.

In our Old Testament scriptures we find that Moses used the rod on a number of occasions. Two of these occasions we find in the book of Exodus. Exodus 17: 1-13

The people of Israel complained to Moses that they were thirsty, they had no water to drink. Moses prayed to God and God told him to take his rod and go and strike the rock at Horeb and water would come out of it. Moses did as God told him he struck the rock and as God promised water came out of the rock and everyone’s thirst was satisfied.
In the New Testament we find that one of Jesus’ titles is God our Rock, the Rock of our Salvation. This water is in reference to the Holy Spirit. On the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles Jesus stood and proclaimed, “If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” John the Baptist pointed to Jesus the Messiah as being the one who would baptise them with the Holy Spirit. Through faith in Jesus our spiritual thirst for God is satisfied. The Holy Spirit is available to all who ask in faith and is given to us as a gift. 1 Corinthians 10:4.
The Holy Spirit bears witness to Jesus. We are here this morning because the Holy Spirit has revealed Jesus or God to us. We all have a story to tell as we travel together on this journey of faith.

Following on in this Chapter Moses again used the rod in power, over Israel’s enemies. It is also a picture of the Trinity.
(3 children to act out this story in Exodus)
The Israelites were under attack from Amalek and his men, so Joshua took with him, his men to fight them off. And whilst he was doing this, Moses went with Aaron and Hur and stood on top of the hill. (child playing part of Moses) Moses lifted up the rod, this rod was the same one that God had given to him to strike the Nile and like he did on that occasion he held the rod up with his right hand. When he held it aloft, Israel were winning the battle, but when he lowered his arm Amalek began to win the battle so Moses had to keep his hands lifted up. We read that Moses grew weary; standing there for hours, (the two other children play the part of Aaron and Hur) Aaron and Hur took a stone and put it under Moses and he sat down and then both of them held up his hands, Aaron on one side, and Hur on the other side; and so they stood together as one and eventually Joshua won the battle.” Exodus 17:8-13.

Moses, Aaron and Hur they stood together joined as one this is a picture of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, the three persons making up the whole of God.
In this true account these three men were working together, and as a result it made them stronger and more likely to succeed in their task in upholding the authority of God over their situation, defeating Amalek and his men.(children go back to their places.)

It is the same for us when we have a problem it’s good to ask for one or two Christian friends to pray. We are stronger in unity and our prayers and witness will break through tangled threads of unbelief. Jesus said, “That were two or three are gathered in my name, I am in the midst.”

In the stained glass window behind me there is a picture that illustrates the Trinity; God in the middle embracing the whole with the three names of the Trinity surrounding joined together.

To illustrate the Trinity: I’ve brought with me not a rod but a stick of rock.

This whole stick rep the three persons joined as one.
On the inside of the stick of rock we can see blue lettering and surrounding these letters the white rock and around this is a pink peppermint layer.
Look at it another way the blue lettering which reads ‘St Mary’s Rawtenstall’ representing us, we are the people that belong to Jesus here at St Mary’s Church.
The church family like the Windsor Royal family we united by our blood tie, we are born of the blood of Jesus; we have his characteristics and gifts.
The white part of the rock which surrounds the letters is like the Spirit of God’s love uniting us all together.
The pink coating is like God our Father putting his arms around us, embracing us his church.
The flavour of the rock is peppermint and this reminds us of the church being the bride of Christ. Every bride holds in her hands a bouquet of scented flowers. The church a fragrant bride, pure and holy full of grace and truth.

On the label it says a gift from St. Mary’s. It’s a gift to you to remind you of the Trinity.
The Trinity working together is an example to us and like Moses, he needed the support of Aaron and Hur to succeed in the tasks that God had planned for them to do.
It is the same for us we are strengthened by working together in the purpose of making Christ known in the world.

cotton industry, CV, Heir loom, Industrial history of Rossendale., London Relief Committee., riots, Rossendale Shoes, slippers Riot William Turner, Trickett, weavers

The Messiah’s Secret – Community Issues – Unemployment

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The Messiah’s Secret – Community Issues 1 Unemployment

The Lord answers prayer two years later.
In 2012 a word of scripture by a member of the congregation was given to me after the evening service.
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven . . . I have seen the business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with, He has made everything beautiful in its time; also he has put eternity into man’s mind, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. . . . .That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.” Ecclesiastes 3: 1- 15.

Update – Rawtenstall Job Club now on ‘Facebook’
May 20th One Jobseeker found job.
May 10th 2016 I now find myself Manager of the CAP Rawtenstall Job Club.  Almost finished this updated first course, it’s a really good course that gives confidence to the jobseeker. 

On the 3rd December 2014 ‘Rawtenstall Job Club’ a branch of Christians Against Poverty opened at St Mary’s.  The people who are coming to it I believe will find jobs that are rewarding, enjoyable and fulfilling. Praise the Lord!

The Messiah’s Secret – Community Issues 1 Unemployment
Acts 1:15-17, 21-26. John 17: 6-19

If we had an interview with Jesus to become his disciple what qualifications do you think would be required?
Answer: Faith in Jesus, faith to believe in his word, the words that identify him as the Saviour of the world.
When Jesus chose his disciples he spent all night praying into the situation as he sought his Father’s guidance as to who he should choose. Even then it is quite probable that Jesus knew that one of them would betray him.
In the interview in our sketch both men had sufficient qualifications, but in some respects it depended on the interview on the day, how they came across. (St. Mary’s Players)

Today those seeking employment may present a very good CV and if they are granted an interview they know it will depend on the impression they make on the day. Today 67,000 people live in the Rossendale Valley there are 33,000 people eligible for work, but there are only 23,000 jobs which is not enough, there are 10,000 people unemployed, just over 5,000 cannot work for various reasons, the remaining are unemployed.

We Christians can make a difference to these figures by praying to our ascended Lord Jesus for his help.

This Sunday we celebrate Jesus’ ascension into heaven, he returned to where he was before he entered the world and was born of a woman. He is seated with his Father in heaven at his right hand. From this position Jesus is able to pour out his blessings on his church. Before his ascension he instructed his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the Holy Spirit.

After Jesus’ ascension the early church came together to pray and as a result of praying for 10 days the Holy Spirit came upon them in power. They went and shared their faith in Jesus amongst those who where in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of the First Fruits, the wheat harvest. They proclaimed the word of the fulfilled prophesies concerning Jesus’ death and resurrection and of his return, bringing in and establishing the kingdom of God in Jerusalem.

“And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for establishing all that God spoke by his holy prophets from of old.”Acts 3: 17-21

The followers of Jesus were expecting his return, Jesus himself had this expectation when he had early stated, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come in power.” Mark 9: 1.

What were the things concerning the Kingdom that Jesus taught during the period before his ascension?
It is more than likely, that he had instructed his apostles to come together and form a church. Jesus used this word when in conversation with Peter. “On this rock I will build my church.” Matthew 16: 18.
The believers came together and pooled their recourses into a common purse, as a result they had food for stomach and their soul and the people who were sick amongst them were healed through prayer. The joy that there must have been amongst them, as they glorified the risen, ascended Lord.

It must have seemed as if the window of heaven had been opened everybody who joined them their needs being met. Gone were the days of standing around waiting to be hired by the vineyard owner or begging on the streets for money to buy food.

Doing the research for today, I’ve found it very interesting how the Rossendale Valley has been blessed by the Lord in the past. The woollen and the cotton industry bringing prosperity to these valleys and even when the cotton industry was declining a new one emerged. Christians who prayed at the time, their prayers were answered by the raising up a Christian man, a Baptist Henry Whittaker Trickett, his slipper and shoe business impacted the world.

Through the introduction of felt manufacturing at Mirtle Grove Mill. The block printer workers using felt remnants wrapped them around their feet, to avoid spoiling the work as they walked on pieces of felt. This was the start of making crude slippers.

John Rothwell began to produce slippers changing the use of a cotton mill in the 1870’s, but it was Henry Trickett who came to the fore and excelled in it.

He was a Godly man, the Holy Spirit appointed him to spear head huge, gigantic industry. Henry Trickett regularly gathered his salesmen together on Waterfoot Station where they prayed before they set off for London and beyond.
Several people belonging to our church have their own businesses, this has given them the opportunity, to make known their faith in Jesus through their businesses, by supporting faith activities in the wider community.

Every person who comes to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, the window of heaven is opened and the Lord blesses us in every way.
“Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers or sisters or mothers and children and lands, with persecutions and in the age to come eternal life.” Mark 10:29, 30.

The lord was also doing something amongst the Churches during that period of the slipper boom. An outreach from St. Mary’s; In 1860 St. John’s Church Cloughfold came into being through a Sunday School starting in a room over a shop and in 1870 a mission took place in a warehouse over a foundry at Constable Lee, and that was the start of St. Paul’s church. Rev Norris during a ten year period in the 1880’s moved St. Mary’s Church Tower from the end of the Nave to the side of the church facing south and also added a gallery.

This prosperity continued at its peak in the 1920’s the predominant manufacturer was Lambert Howarth Group, Brian tells me that there were between 50 and 60, 000 people employed in the Valley making slippers and shoes, the Valley was booming. 10 million pairs of shoes in a year left Lambert mills to destinations across the world.

However the shoe industry has passed through some difficult years. It survived the depression in the 1930’s and the war years. The industry was still thriving until the 1980’s. I remember when we came to live in the Valley I noticed all the shoe business signs: manufacturers, wholesalers and retail. Sadly since then the industry has declined and there is little sign of the industry today.

We do have growing businesses in the Valley, and by the grace of God the 5,000 unemployed people will get employment soon.
As Christ’s representatives we pray for the people who live and work in this valley, our hearts cry out to our Lord God in prayer for new initiatives to produce jobs for all who live in the Rossendale Valley.

Let us pray:
First of all we give thanks for the item of news in our local newspaper announcing that 100 apprentice jobs that have been found for the young unemployed.
We pray for those who are preparing their CV for an interview this week, that they would chose their words carefully and honestly.
For those who have had a lot of interviews and are still without a job, may they be successful on their next interview.
For those who worried about losing their job, especially were they are totally reliant upon their wage coming in.
For those who are making people redundant because of lack of orders.
For those starting new businesses, the help they need, for doors to open as they make their way forward.
We look forward to a job for every person that brings satisfaction in every way, the wages supplying all their needs.
We give you thanks and praise dear Lord for we know that you always hear our prayers when we ask in the name of Jesus our Lord and Saviour Amen.

Evening Service Part 2           Isaiah 61 Luke 4: 14-21
The harder the struggle the more we become dependent on the Lord our God.
Under Roman occupation the Jewish people were looking for the coming of the Messiah to release them from the and establish God’s kingdom with its promise of peace and prosperity under God’s rule. Times were hard for all who lived under occupation and probably repressive,”The Roman taxation which bore upon Israel with such crushing weight, was systematic, cruel, relentless, and utterly regardless.” Ungers Bible Dictionary.                                                    
Jesus’ message looked not to what the Romans were about, he came to set people free from the overburdening laws that had been added to the laws of Moses. He was embracing the outcasts bringing them back into the fold.

The church in Rossendale
The Commonwealth Church Survey in 1650 recorded three hundred families in Haslingden and the three hundred in Newchurch in Rossendale as ‘lamentably poor – too poor for a minister’. (Two churches were in existence St. James Haslingden established in 1284 and St. Nicholas Newchurch established 1511) There was also a change going on in the communities, due to the mechanisation of the cotton industry. This caused great distress on a huge scale amongst the hand loom weavers.                                                                                                                          

The Hand Loom Weavers
Hand loom weaving is an ancient skill going back centuries. Cotton weaving came to England in the 16th century when Dutch and Flemish weavers, refugees from religious persecution, came to East Anglia. They later settled in south and east Lancashire and established, as a domestic or ‘cottage’ industry, the manufacture of fustian cloth. By the end of the century cotton weaving and spinning began to oust the traditional domestic woollen industry of Lancashire.

The typical hand loom weaver of Lancashire was an independent craftsman and most of his working life centred on his farm or cottage. He owned his loom and worked his own hours to supplement farming or other work. The preliminary operations of carding and spinning the yarn ready for weaving were performed by the women and children of the household. A single loom needed the efforts of five or six people to prepare the yarn.

The term ‘Heir loom’ originates from the ‘Home loom’ that was passed on to the next generation. Another familiar term ‘Spinster’ in preparation for marriage a woman spun her linen sheets and other items.

In the 18th Century the hand loom weavers who lived in the Rossendale Valley England were confronted with great changes as a result of new inventions of machinery.
1733 John Kay Walmersley, Bury invented the ‘Flying shuttle.’
(John Wesley came to Rawtenstall in 1761 and established churches.)
1765 James Hargreaves Spinny Jenny Below picture of Spinny Jenny

1769 Richard Arkwright Water Frame.
1779 Samuel Crompton ‘the Mule’ a stronger finer threads several hundred spindles.

These inventions brought prosperity to the hand loom weavers.
Factories sprung up producing yarn for the hand loom weavers. Many more farmers became weavers they turned their outbuildings into loom shops. These were supplied with yarn by the middle man the ‘putter out’ The hand loom weaver, particularly in remote moorland areas, had neither time or transport to get his own yarn or sell his own cloth direct. The manufacturer of the yarn controlled the market. This period of prosperity soon came to an end in 1812.

Edmond Cartwright invented ‘Power Loom.’
Weavers started to undercut each other; as a result many were out of work.
The Rossendale Weavers were stubborn, proud of their heritage and demanded justice, but their situation grew worse.
40,000 signed petition for a minimum wage, it was ignored by the government.
Many weavers turned to Radicalism and reform of the House of Commons as a means of political action.
16th August 1819 a public meeting was held to consider the best means of reform and the repeal of the Corn Laws was to be held in St. Peter’s Field, Manchester. Henry Hunt, the well known Radical and orator was to address the meeting. An estimated 60,000 men, women and children from all of the manufacturing towns attended. However the County Magistrates were determined to arrest Hunt and disperse the assembly. The Cheshire Yeomanry Cavalry swept, with drawn sabres, through the packed field to arrest Hunt and his companions. In the ensuing onslaught and panic eighteen people were killed and hundreds injured. The tragedy was quickly doubed, in derision, the Battle of Peterloo. Peterloo left a legacy of even deeper bitterness throughout Lancashire.
The government’s policy of ‘change job’ and they absolved themselves of all responsibility.

Manchester Courier wrote, “The road around Padiham crowded with famished wretches, begging. Unless relief is offered to them, they must surely perish of extreme want.”

1825 Bank of England was almost bankrupt Sir Walter Scott the author. In 1825 and 1826, a banking crisis swept through the cities of London and Edinburgh. The Ballantyne printing business, in which Scott was heavily invested, crashed, resulting in his being very publicly ruined.”

1826 26th April 1,000 weavers gathered at Whinny Hall Enfield Accrington they destroyed power looms in Accrington, Blackburn, Darwin, Oswaldtwistle and Hoddlesden where there was confrontation with the Dragoons. A weaver spoke to the troopers. “What are we to do, we’re starving, Are we to starve to death.” Soldiers gave them their sandwiches.

The plight of the Hand Loom Weavers was brought again to the notice of the House of Commons
William Hulton gave evidence to the House of Commons, he said, “I have witnessed things I have not conceived existed in a civilised country.” On one visit to a cottage, we found there on one side of the fire a very old man apparently dying, on the other side a young man with a child on his knee, whose mother had just died and been buried and evidently that young man and child were suffering from want. We were about to leave and the woman accompanying us said, Sir, you have not seen all.’ We went upstairs and we found another young man a widower, and turning down the rags which he was unable to move himself, we found another man who was dying and died in the course of the day.”
William Huton’s evidence moved the country. Many whether in authority or not, at last realised how many people, not just in Lancashire, were made defenceless against economic and technological change.

The London Relief Committee in 1826 sent aid to Lancashire by distributing £27,000 in cash and goods. The Home Secretary Robert Peel trusted that in the distribution of the relief money, care would be taken that no person who was relieved, had been implicated in the disturbances. William Turner wrote that it is extremely doubtful if much notice was taken of this. The distress was too deep and too crushing for any decent person to discriminate one famished wretch and his children against another.

I have used with permission from the author extracts from the book ‘Riot!’ The story of the East Lancashire Loom-Breakers in 1826 by William Turner.
In June 2007 I contacted Mr Turner about his book and shared with him the sorrow that I felt for the plight of the hand loom weavers. He spoke of the impact that his research on the subject had on his life; ‘It is the part of the Industrial Revolution that took place in this country that nobody hears about.’

During that same month I organised a ‘Prayer Walk’ a small group of us from St. Mary’s walked along paths that the weavers must have trod and at various points we prayed for the Lord’s healing on the land.

Jesus has redeemed the land
On the cross Jesus’ blood from his wounds and heart trickled down from his head to his feet and onto the ground. Jesus said that Abel’s blood cried out from the land. The life (blood) breathed into Adam, brought life, when Abel’s blood cried out, it brought death. The precious blood of Jesus bringing forgiveness and healing to lives of those like Abel who have been victims of man’s inhumanity to man.

Let us pray
Lord we pray for the healing of this land
The Valleys and hills of Rossendale.
This land that has been trodden by the rich and the poor.
And heard words of anger, bitterness and forgiveness.
It has been watered by the tears of the pained and the despairing,
The forsaken and the betrayed.
Lord we pray for your forgiveness and we ask for the healing of this land.

Lord in your mercy – hear our prayer

For the Weavers who died in loneliness and heartache,
In weariness and want, in anxiety and fear, and for those whose eyes were not able to see the true picture.
Loving Lord Jesus you fed, the hungry on the mountain side. With your hands you made real bread.
Be gentle when you touch bread,
Let it not lie, uncared for, unwanted, so often bread is taken for granted.
There is such beauty in bread. Beauty of sun and soil, Beauty of patient toil. Wind and rain have caressed it, Christ often blessed it.
Be gentle when you touch bread.

Lord we pray for your forgiveness for those who starved to death, whilst others had plenty.

Lord in your mercy – hear our prayer

The land strained, stressed, and distressed by violence. The pounding of heavy, hurting feet, the weight of broken looms, the clatter of horse’s hooves. The piecing sound of guns being fired. Men and women driven by injustice against the justice of orderly lives. Lord, we pray for your forgiveness and for the healing of this land.

Lord Jesus thank you for hearing our prayers and using them to bring healing to the hills and valleys in Rossendale. In Jesus’ name. Amen

A word of scripture was given to a member of congregation:
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven . . . I have seen the business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with, He has made everything beautiful in its time; also he has put eternity into man’s mind, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. . . . .That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.” Ecclesiastes 3: 1- 15.

felt, Lambert Howarth, Rossendale Shoe Industry, shoe museum Rawtenstall., slippers, Trickett

Rossendale Shoe Industry

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Rossendale Slipper and Shoe Industry
Industrial growth within the Rossendale Valley commenced with the woollen industry, which developed later to include the cotton industry. This led to the development of the essential link of the railway. The first rail link to Rawtenstall was completed in 1848 which, by 1852 extended to Bacup.
The cotton industry was slowing down and it was coming to the end of what were known as the golden years. Vacated cotton Mills were taken over by the shoe manufacturing industry.
The shoe trade evolved from the felt industry. Felt was introduced in the area by Edward Rostron of Leeds in 1854. Felt carpets were made in Leeds and were sent to Mirtle Grove Mill in Rossendale for dying and printing. Soon afterwards Mirtle Grove Mill was used to manufacture felt. At the time felt block printers made rough wrappings out of used pieces of felt and covered their feet when they were walking over the felt pieces to avoid spoiling the work. This was the start of making crude slippers. Below the felt pieces that make up the slipper.

John William Rothwell was the first to start producing slippers in 1874. He collected remnants of felt from his uncle Henry Rothwell at Bridge End Mill. He started his business with 4 people using printed felt for the uppers and saddle felt for the soles.
Samuel McLerie, was a cannie Scot, who was a foreman at Bridge End works, he started by making slippers at home. When in 1876 Henry Rothwell’s business failed, it gave an opportunity for McLerie to step into his shoes. McLerie took over the disused Holt Mill in Whitewell Bottom, and developed a large and prosperous slipper business.
In 1879 John Rothwell went into partnership with James Gregory and called it Gregory and Co., but after a few months he left and went back to block printing. It was rumoured he helped start about 8 slipper firms.
Henry Whittaker Trickett left school at the age of eight. (1865) He attended St James Night School, and for a number of years he had a variety of jobs. In 1881 he joined Gregory & Co as a traveller, he stayed with them for 2 years. After that time he borrowed money from his uncle and started his own business with 6 people . 6 years later he bought a rundown mill at Gaghills for £1,000. By 1900 he was employing over a 1,000 people and producing 72,000 shoes per week. His factory was the first to run off electricity, powered by two steam engines they were named after his two daughters Elsie and Janie.

Henry Trickett travelled overseas and set up offices in Paris, Hamburg, Bucharest, Cape Town, Cairo and Kingston Jamaica by 1906 He was knighted in 1909 in recognition of his services as a Alderman and Mayor and his industrial achievements.
Sir Henry Whittaker Trickett was an entrepeneur of his day, he was a man of integrity, a Godly man, he held prayer meetings at 5am in the morning on Waterfoot Station with his travellers.
He was 5 times Mayor and a Justice of the Peace. He was the first to have a profit and share scheme. He bought the first car in Rossendale 1902. He built Gaghills house,and he bought a house in St Anne’s by the sea. In 1903 his daughter was married they had a celebration that lasted for 2 days. She married James Ashworth from Ashlands, their wedding present was a house Ashville on Haslingden Road. His last public engagement was a meeting with King George and Queen Mary in 1913 he died in August of the same year aged 56. Henry Trickett was buried in Waterbarn Baptist Church yard.
Lambert Howarth & Sons came into being in 1887. Lambert and Betsy started their business in School Street, Whitewell Bottom. Betsy had a drapery business before she married Lambert who had been an auctioneer. In 1910 they were a Private Limited Company. 1918 Lambert died, his 2 sons came into the business and split the Company into two parts; Charles Frederick took the footwear and William the drapery. Charles had 2 sons Clifford and Frederick, Clifford joined in 1920 then Frederick in 1926 and the fourth generation James joined in 1965.
In 1969 the company went public. In 1970 Lambert Howarth Group p.l.c bought Ronaldsway Shoe Company in the Isle of Man, 40,000 shoes were produced per week.

Lambert Howarth Group p.l.c produced 10 million pair’s of shoes per year and at one stage employed 2,500 people and was one of the first companies to supply Marks & Spencer’s with footwear.
Supplied to retail: M & S, British Shoe Corporation, mail order and many large wholesale companies.
The Rossendale Valley Shoe Industry at its peak employed between 50 and 60,000 people producing the everyday shoes that most people wear. Kay Shoes of Kendal and Clark Shoes produced a more expensive shoe range.
In the 1980’s the shoe trade in Rossendale began to decline, Cheap imports from the Far East undermined the industry. The rising costs of this labour intensive industry plus the energy required to produce the shoes has been its downfall.
Today there is little sign in Rossendale of the once thriving shoe industry, only a few small specialist companies produce footwear like wedding shoes, using modern machine technology 10 people can produce 1,200 pairs of shoes in an 8 hour shift.
A few supporting industries remain: box and knife making companies .
Most of the old mills that have survived have been sectioned into small business units. These now are struggling to be filled as many small businesses have closed down due to our present economic climate.
The main Lambert Howarth’s Mill along with several other mills have been demolished to make way for housing. Ilex mill has been converted into flats and Hardman’s mill into offices.
Lambert Howarth Group in 1962 bought Greenbridge Mill, today it is now the home of the Footwear Museum.
Kind acknowledgments to Mr Brian Warburton retired Director of Wholesale Retail Lambert Howarth Group p.l.c Shoe Manufacturers and founder of the Footwear Museum, Rawtenstall. Pictures taken at the Footwear Museum May 2012.

Bible, Churches Together, Reg Bailey, Romans, treasure

The Messiah’s Secret – Treasure

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The Messiah’s Secret – Treasure

Churches Together. Haslingden Friday May 4th 2012

Personal treasure
My Bible, my family (picture) and a small cross made out of material.
Nearly all of us have people and personal items that we treasure.

The Psalmist records that Israel were regarded by God as his peculiar treasure. Psalm 135: 4. (King James Authorised Bible)
God sent Jesus into the world first to his own people with the good news of God’s love for them and of his coming kingdom. But at the time the chief priests and Pharisees were afraid of the Romans. “So the Pharisees and the chief priests gathered the council, and said, “What are we to do? For this man (Jesus) performs many signs. If we let him go on thus, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.” John 11: 47, 48.
Jesus he saw how sinful the leaders were in their collaboration with the Romans and in their indifference towards him. But in his great love and forgiveness he was prepared to complete his mission to save Israel and the Gentiles. (Romans included)

In one of Jesus’ parables he portraits Israel as being treasure hidden in a field.
”The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” Matthew 13: 44.

Treasure representing Israel, the man – Jesus, the field – the world.
Jesus found the treasure and covered it; before and during Jesus’ ministry Israel was covered, atoned, by the keeping of the laws of Moses with its sacrifices and rituals.
The field, the world was purchased by Jesus who paid the price by laying down his life, the final atonement for the sins of the world (and the universe) against God. God in his love for Israel was willing to forgive the sin of collaborating with the Romans and all that stood against humanity.
”God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” Romans 5: 8.

Israel’s Messiah is the treasure we receive.
“Christ in you.”
We cannot buy the gift of salvation, it’s not for sale.
Salvation – the saving of man from the power and penalty of sin.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3: 16.
It is through faith in Jesus we forsake the world to receive the kingdom. God our Father, accepts us with all our failings and quirkiness. We are all worthy to receive his treasure, the treasure of his Son Jesus.

Paul in his second letter to the Corinthian church tells us that we have this treasure within us and that we should not lose heart when we are derided for our faith in Jesus. 2 Corinthians 4: 7, 8.

How does the Lord see his church today, is our faith being compromised by humanistic and atheist laws?

Today Christ’s church across the world is like an orange, an orange has an exterior covering of peel, inside it has segments, each one making up the whole orange.
Christians express their faith in our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ in various ways. The Church of England is a broad church covering most aspects of worshipping traditions.
It is right to uphold the laws of our nation, but we can in our democracy challenge the way our new laws are changing our culture and spirituality. The MU(Mothers’ Union) campaign “Bye, Buy Childhood” is putting a brake on the declining family values in our nation. See Blog “The Messiah’s Secret – Get on Board”

The Holy Spirit is still restraining the revealing of the antichrist. 2 Thessalonians 4: 6-8
We see other Christians being moved by the Holy Spirit to make Christ known: like that of “Vision” a young people’s ministry going on in the Rossendale Valley, ministering to their own generation the good news about Jesus. See “Vision” website.

Chief Exec Reg Bailey, Commercialisation of Childhood, David Cameron, M P Sarah Teather, Mothers' Union, Ofcom, weather warning.

The Messiah’s Secret – Get on Board

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The Messiah’s Secret – Get on Board

Tuesday 24th April 2012 Mothers’ Union Meeting St Anne’s C of E Edgeside M U

A man lived by the river; now and again the river would rise above its banks and flood the man’s garden. On this occasion the flood waters kept on rising, the man’s neighbour came and suggested to him that he should leave his house and go up onto higher ground. The man refused saying, “God will look after me.” Steadily the waters kept on rising, so again the neighbour came to his house and beckoned to the man to get into his boat, but the man refused. The weather grew worse and his neighbour feared for the man’s life, he saw that he had climbed onto the roof, so he called for a helicopter to rescue him. But still the man insisted that God would look after him.
Sadly the house could no longer stand the strain and the walls collapsed and the man drowned. When in heaven he asked God why he hadn’t looked after him. God replied, “I did, I sent your neighbour to you on three occasions: for you to go with him onto higher ground, secondly he came with his boat to pick you up, and thirdly he sent a helicopter to rescue you”. But he did not recognise they were from God.

The Pharisees did not recognise the signs of the times.
“The Pharisees came to him asking for a sign from heaven. “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’. And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today for the sky is red and threatening!’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” Matthew 16: 1-4

Signs of the Times in Jesus’ day
The Jewish people were in great expectation of the coming of the Messiah. Luke records the people expressing this expectation, on the occasion when men came to John the Baptist and asked him if he was the Messiah. Luke 3: 15
Another sign is the prophecy of Moses were God would raise up a prophet like himself. Deuteronomy 18: 15-18.
The Pharisees were looking for the Messiah to be a great leader like Moses and give them a sign in using his power to rid them of their Roman invaders.
The Romans had invaded Israel in 64BC so it was nearly 100 years that they had been under occupation. The Romans allowed the conquered nation to continue with their own religious beliefs.
It is quite likely that some of the Jews would try to please influential Roman officials to gain from it. Whilst a few would totally object to the Roman occupation. Others would try to please both Roman and Jewish authorities.
“So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council, and said, “What are we to do? For this man (Jesus) performs many signs. If we let him go on thus, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.” John 11: 47, 48.
It is quite possible that Jesus had noticed how Roman culture and spirituality had infiltrated into Jewish society when he called them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation.’

Discerning Signs of the Times Today
Spring Council Saturday 21 April 2012
Guest Speaker Chief Executive of Mothers’ Union Reg Bailey

Reg Bailey, described the founder of the Mothers’ Union Mary Sumner as a lady who prayed, campaigned and enabled the women of her day, to speak with one voice on family issues, based on Christian principals. The Victorian era was not the golden age for the family, poverty, disease and lack of education was prevalent amongst the majority of the population.
These steadfast structures of prayer, campaigning and enabling are the basis of the Mothers’ Union today.
Praying in faith for our nation’s family life has been a high priority amongst the members of the M.U. As a mum myself it has been heart breaking to see the decline in Christian family values across the nation. The Lord in answer to all our prayers calls us to act by putting our faith into practice and to get on board, and support the ‘Bye, Buy, Childhood’ campaign.

This campaign came into being, when concerns were raised at a meeting in York among MU members about the commercialisation of children and from the discussions that followed, the name ‘Bye, Buy, Childhood’ was given to the campaign.
The aim of the ‘Bye, buy childhood ‘campaign is for every child to enjoy their childhood without the sexualisation and commercialisation of their young lives

Mothers’ Union believes children should be valued as children, not consumers. However, childhood has become a marketing opportunity worth £99 billion in the UK. Marketers target children’s natural inexperience, through methods such as celebrity endorsement, in order to reach not only children’s pocket money but also the household purse. These commercial pressures encourage materialism which negatively affects children’s wellbeing, family life and peer relationships, and can encourage values that Jesus taught against. The use of sexualised content and the imposition of sexuality on children to market and sell goods are particularly concerning. Families can feel overwhelmed by this commercialisation of childhood and unsure how to challenge powerful marketing initiatives.

10 Downing Street
MP Sarah Teather Minister of State for Children and Families contacted MU Reg Bailey and asked if he would attend a round table meeting at Downing Street, and give the views of the MU on tackling the commercialisation and sexualisation of childhood. The Prime Minister and Sarah Teather, hosted the meeting, seventy people attended.
The out come of the meeting Reg Bailey was asked to produce a report.

The Government asked Reg to look into this issue because they wanted a common sense approach to the concerns of many parents, who feel their children are under increasing pressure to become consumers, and that the world they live in is a more sexualised place than when their parents were growing up. Reg was asked to put forward recommendations to address the high levels of public concern, taking into account particularly the views of parents and the business community.

The report dealt with the real concerns that became apparent through the interviews.
1,000 parents and 600 children from 7 – 19 years of age were interviewed by Reg and his team. Along with children’s organisations and commercial companies.
This 99 billion market effects; values, aspirations and health.

Children interviewed:
Values.
Children are not aware of being exploited. Some children are on-line brand ambassadors they were paid to wear brand names on clothing, and fashion accessories on ‘Facebook Wall.’
A child said that there should be on the TV control another button beside the red one to blank the picture.

Aspirations.
The majority of children when they were asked what they would like to be when they grew up, they wanted to aspire to be famous, a celebrity.
The TV Talent Show ‘Britain’s’ got Talent’ the lyrics of Rihannas song caused hundreds of people to complain.

PM’s wife Mrs Cameron was appalled when she heard her daughter singing Lily Allen’s song from her album ‘It’s not me, its you.’ the words of the chorus shocked her.

Health
In most adverts the teenager in the picture has been hair brushed to have the perfect skin and proportions. Reg pointed out that children are not immune to low self esteem.

Parents interviewed:
80% of parents interviewed were concerned about inappropriate clothing but were afraid of their children being bullied by other children for not wearing the right clothes.
Concerns were raised regarding adverts on street advertisements on Bill Boards, Screens on buildings and in Bus Shelters.
Parents were unsure as to which organisation to complain to.
Music videos are not age rated and some of these videos are pornographic.

The responsibility for parents to make their children aware:
The pictures they take on their mobile phone are not private, they become public property.
Kids are media savvy: for some what they see and hear bounces off them, but for others they take it seriously and are damaged by what they see and hear.

The publication of Reg Bailey’s report enables our nation to protect our children from sexulisation and commercialisation of childhood.
On October 11th 2011, a number of the organisations responsible for taking forward these recommendations were invited to provide an update on their actions. Individually they were interviewed by Prime Minister David Cameron and were asked directly for details of their progress on implementing the recommendations and areas where they expect to take further action.

The supermarkets have complied with the recommendations of the report, to either cover with a modesty board the front cover of Lads Mags that are displayed at I metre height or to put them on their top shelves above the eye level of a child.
40% of children’s clothing retail sector have now signed up to the guidelines including Argos, Debenhams, George at Asda, John Lewis, M&CO, M&S, Next, Peakcocks, Pumpkin Patch, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and TK Maxx.

BT, Virgin, Sky, Talk Talk in their packages give an ‘active choice’ on whether or not the purchaser wants to install parental controls. Parents will quite often leave the setting up of their computer to their children so this choice is left to them.

New code on public advertisements, the Advertising Association announced a voluntary ban on under-16s being employed to act as ambassadors for brand names or in peer-to-peer marketing campaigns.
The outdoor advertising industry also announced a voluntary ban on advertisements near schools for lap-dancing clubs and similar adult services.

Watershed – General Viewing Public. A consensus of opinion coming from the adult population. Ofcom issued new guidance on pre-watershed TV content to ensure programmes aimed at a family audience are always family-friendly and suitable for children.
Reg said that Ofcom has a new parents panel they have put in place a really tuff code.

Get on Board and take action.
If we see in our local shop that they have not yet complied with the recommendations of the report regarding ‘lads mags’, we should express our concerns to the appropriate person in the shop and if nothing is done we can complain to the newly set up on line ‘parent port.’
Ofcom joined with six other media regulators (the Advertising Standards Authority, Authority for Television and Video on Demand, the BBC Trust, the British Board of Film Classification, the Press Complaints Commission and the Video Standards Council) to set up and create the ParentPort website which provides a single accessible interface for parents to express their views and concerns about material they feel is unsuitable for children across the media, communications and retail industries. (extract from Sarah Teather’s letter to the Department for Education)

Age rating for music videos is under consideration as the industry look for evidence to support this call for the introduction of age rating.

The government has asked to Reg and his team and all of us, to take an active role in working with voluntary groups like; Mumsnet and Netmums to hold business, organisations and Government to account.

God brought Jonah to account

Jonah had been given direction by God to take a message of repentance to the city of Nineveh. But Jonah did not want to go so he boarded a ship going to Tarshish. Due to the violence of the storm the sailors began to off load the cargo. The storm grew worse the sailors cast lots and the lot fell upon Jonah, he owned up to have been disobedient to his God and he volunteered to be cast overboard. When he landed in the water a huge fish swallowed him whole. After three days the fish vomited him out on to dry land. He knew hat he had been resurrected.
The conviction to take the message to the city of Nineveh was uppermost in his heart, so this time he went willingly. The people and King of Nineveh repented when they heard God’s message from Jonah. Jonah Chapters 1-3

God cared about Jesus and in his love for the people of the world, he sent him with a message for us to change our ways and believe in him.
When we take up Jesus’ cross and feel the pain of sin, as he felt it, and die to it by saying sorry to God our Father, we enter into the freedom of Jesus’ forgiveness. God raises us up into a newness of life.
We continue to take up Jesus’ cross day by day as we experience Jesus’ love reaching out to others. That is why Reg Bailey of Mothers’ Union cares about the children and parents of our nation. Jesus’ love touching the hearts of politicians, supermarket executives, company directors and advertising agencies, they have recognised the need to give our children their childhood.

The restraing work of the Holy Spirit.
“And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. The mystery of the lawlessness is already at work; only he who restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, and the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by his appearing and his coming.” 2 Thessalonians 2: 6-8
Through Reg and his team along with the Mothers’ Union’s 4 million members across 83 countries in the world, are slowing down restraining the revealing of the antichrist. Along with other Christians are like salt that restrains the corruption of food, until it ultimately is corrupted. The Holy Spirit’s work in the church is about making Christ known until the coming of Jesus whose feet will stand on the Mount of Olives.

Apostasy, G8, Great White Throne, last day, linen cloths, Thomas doubted, Titanic, wheat seeds

The Messiah’s Secret – Resurrection

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100 years ago today 15th April 1912 the Titanic sank with the loss of 1500 people. The circumstances that surrounded this tragedy are widely known. Shortly after hitting the iceberg, the passengers were told that the boat was going to sink, some them doubted because they had been told that this boat could not sink.

Thomas doubted Jesus’ resurrection.
When Thomas heard from the other disciples that Jesus had been raised from the dead he did not believe them. John records his words, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and placed my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe.” Thomas doubted Jesus’ resurrection.
Perhaps Thomas had been taught that after death there followed a long sleep before the general resurrection and judgment on the last day.
Job, Isaiah, the Psalmist and the latter day prophets Hosea and Daniel prophesied a resurrection and judgment on the last day. Job 19: 26, 27.and Daniel 12: 2.
Jesus in conversation with the Jews and the Pharisees said, “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. John 6: 39.
It is not surprising that the disciples did not understand when Jesus spoke of his death and later after three days of his resurrection because it was contrary to what they had been taught so they could not grasp it and they were afraid of asking him what being raised from the dead meant. Even on the morning of the resurrection we read that they did not know the scripture that the Messiah must rise from the dead. Luke 18: 34. Mark 9: 52. John 20: 9.

On the evening of the day of the resurrection when Jesus entered the room where some of his disciples and followers were gathered. They very quickly discovered Jesus had been raised from the dead when they saw the print of the nails and the mark of the sword that had pierced his side, along with the scars from the flogging. Jesus stilled their troubled minds and hearts with the words, “Peace be with you.” Seeing Jesus and hearing those words the fear of death would leave them. It is the same today one experience is worth a thousand arguments, when a person turns to Jesus in faith the fear of death goes. John 20: 19-31
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” John 5: 24

Jesus breathed on them the Holy Spirit.
John the Baptist prophesied that the Messiah’s baptism would be of the Holy Spirit and fire.
The Holy Spirit’s comforting presence was breathed upon them and Jesus anointed them with his authority to forgive the sins of any, they were forgiven; and if the retained the sins of any, they were retained. This is the refining fire of judgment that Peter enforced when the community of believers came into being at Jerusalem.

The early church community met in the temple daily at Solomon’s Portico where they shared the word and gave testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. In their homes they broke bread and they shared their food and possessions. Acts 4: 32-35

The Messiah’s Secret
Ananias and his wife Sapphira were part of the community they proposed to sell a piece of property like others had done and give the proceeds to the community. However, with his wife’s knowledge Ananias kept some of the proceeds back and brought only a part and laid it at Peter’s feet. Peter knew what they had done and he told Ananias that he had lied not to men but to God. After Ananias heard this he fell down dead at the apostle’s feet. Three hours later, his wife came before Peter; he asked her what they had received for the land and she too lied to him telling him the false amount received from the sale. Sapphira died on the spot

Maybe they had doubts over Jesus’ resurrection and his return and with held a portion of the proceeds to secure their future needs.
Ananias and Sapphira the Adam and Eve of the New Testament and I believe that they will appear before the Great White Throne on the last day, the final judgment by Jesus. Revelation 20: 12.
“For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to those to whom he will. The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son.” John 5: 21, 22.

Thomas doubted Jesus’ resurrection and he wanted to see Jesus before he would believe. 8 days later Jesus returned to the room where they were gathered and Thomas placed his finger in the marks of the nails and his hand in his side. He believed and said ‘My Lord and my God.’

Maybe we have doubts about Jesus’ resurrection and of his return.

Jesus the first fruit of the resurrection. “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies it remains alone, but if it dies it bears much fruit.” John 12: 24
The Wheat Seed Below;

Last years wheat seeds that have died off are sown by the farmer in the ploughed field. This reminds us of Jesus dying on the cross, being taken down and lay in a dark and cold tomb.

The seeds are watered by the rain and start to grow sending out roots and green shoots appear.


The seed gives its all to the plant emerging from it, its height, colour and texture. Eventually the ears that contain the seeds begin to appear, one seed produces many seeds.

The new plant reminds us of Jesus in his resurrection producing the new seeds that tell about Jesus. Those new seeds sown by faith into a person’s heart and are watered by the word quickened by Holy Spirit and grows into the likeness of Jesus within us to bear the seeds of the kingdom that are sown into the hearts of others.

Jesus’ return in two stages:
1/ Jesus calls out the church, the body of Christ
2/ Jesus returns to the Mount of Olives and the church comes with him

1/ Paul describes our meeting with Jesus in his first letter to the Thessalonians.
“For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until his coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord he will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4: 15-18

Jesus gave us insight into the resurrection and the churches resurrection when Lazarus was raised from the dead.
Mary and Martha had sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was very poorly, but Jesus did not respond immediately, he stayed a little while longer for two days in the place where he was.
Martha was told that Jesus was on the road approaching Bethany so she went out to meet Jesus and in her distress she cried out, “Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died.” Jesus re-assured her that there will be a resurrection,”Your brother will live again.” Martha replied, “I know that he will rise in the resurrection at the last day.”
Martha in her response confirms that she was one of the many Jews who held this belief.

Jesus told Martha about the resurrection of the believers in him. “I am the resurrection and the life: he who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die.” John 11: 25, 26.

When Jesus arrived at Bethany Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days, after that length of time it was medically impossible for anyone to be resuscitated. Mary, Martha and Jesus went to the tomb, Jesus asked for the stone covering the entrance to be moved. Jesus prayed and then he called out, “Lazarus, come out” and to everyone’s amazement he did, he was resurrected from the dead.

Jesus’ own resurrection, the stone was rolled away and God raised Jesus from the dead, the linen cloths lay on the floor of the tomb. The trappings and sin of this life could not bind him. John 19: 40. 20: 6.
In the power of Jesus’ resurrection we are set free from all that Satan would try to bind us with because Jesus is our Lord and God.

We look again at Jesus’ words to Martha from the point of view of Jesus calling out his church from the earth,
“Though he was dead, yet shall he live?” Lazarus died in faith and Jesus called him out and raised him up from the grave. This illustrates that when the dead in Christ hear the call of Jesus, they will be resurrected to meet Jesus in the air.
“And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die.” Martha and Mary also heard Jesus’ call. Illustrating those who are alive will meet Jesus in the air when he calls out his church.
St. Paul wrote that we come together simultaneously to meet the Lord in the air and we shall be forever with the Lord Jesus. This true account taking place at the tomb is the picture of what takes place when Jesus calls out his church.

Jesus reminds us to watch out for the signs of his coming
Biblical prophesies that are being fulfilled in our life time.
Matthew 24: Jesus prophesied the conflicts between nations; we have had two world wars.
Ezekiel 34: 11-13. Ezekiel prophesied Israel’s to return to their home land. This prophecy was fulfilled approximately nineteen hundred years after their dispersion across the world in 70 AD.

Daniel 7: 24. Daniel prophesied a one world government; in my life time I’ve seen Globalisation taking us towards the world’s dependence on a global economy.
The World Bank was set up after the Second World War for reconstruction and development; it plays a bigger role today.
Globalisation of Industry and commerce; family run businesses like Cadbury’s chocolate and Terry’s of York have been swallowed up by the multinational company Kraft Foods. Another huge multinational company is Nestle; it is the largest food and nutrition company in the world and employs 280,000 people across the world. GlaxoSmithKline is the 3rd largest pharmaceutical company in the world.

The setting up of ‘the Library Group’ in America, 5 world leaders came together in response to the oil crisis in 1974. It is now the G8.
The world is moving towards one world government.

Jesus prophesied the distress of nations Luke 21: 25. Through global climate change every year we hear of severe famine in parts of Africa where the deserts are expanding and natural disasters are on the increase; volcanic eruptions, earthquakes followed by Tsunamis. During the tribulation period the earth will be effected by activity in the universe.

Daniel 12: 4. Daniel prophesied the increase of knowledge; civil wars we hear about them as they happen through mobile phones, we have seen the computer revolution and most recently synthetic biology; scientists have the capability to create some new form of life.

Apostasy Hebrews 6: 6.10: 26-31. in the 1960’s the Age of Aquarius the New Age Spirituality they declared the end of the age of Jesus Christ. More recently we have seen pagan religion recognised in England.

All these things point to the signs were Jesus could call out his church at any time.
Lord Jesus, may you give us the opportunity to sow the seeds of Jesus return today. Amen

Jesus having this expectation in himself of his coming, this expectation is in us, because Christ is in us.
This hope of Jesus’ coming is born in us through Jesus’ own desire to come from heaven and call out his church.
Jesus has given us assurance in his word that we shall meet him one day soon face to face. This is something really wonderful to look forward to, the most special event in the whole of our lives and it’s a shared event with our fellow believers in Christ.

branches, justice, King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, Naboth, tenants, the devil, the love of God., vineyard.

The Messiah’s Secret – The Vineyard ‘Christ in You’

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Evening Service following the Lectionary Isaiah 5: 1-7. Mark 12: 1-12

Isaiah tells us that the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel and the man of Judah.
God put everything in place for the vineyard on the hill to flourish, a wall and hedge around it, a watchtower was built and a pit dug for the wine press.

The Psalmist also wrote of Israel being the vine.
“Thou didst bring out of Egypt a vine, thou didst drive out the nations and plant it. “ Psalm 80: 8-19
The nation of Israel described as a vine when they left Egypt for the Promised Land where the vine was planted, the nation took root in the land of Canaan.
God tended, cared for and pruned the vine as they made their journey towards the Promised Land.

However, Isaiah prophesied Israel’s vineyard would produce wild grapes this was fulfilled in Jesus’ day. ”And he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded sour grapes.” Isaiah 5: 4.

The Parable of the Vineyard
Jesus described Israel as being tenants of the vineyard they were no longer the beloved vine. Jesus reproached the Pharisees for they neglected justice and the love of God; they were no longer producing good fruit.
Justice.
Jesus the true vine looked for justice; he taught that it was right to do good on the Sabbath Day. He acted on compassionate love very often going the extra mile to heal a sick person.
The Pharisees and Lawyers neglected justice they had taken away the key of knowledge; they added extra laws to the Laws of Moses these laws laid a heavy burden on the people, as they earned their righteousness under law. Luke 11: 42-52.
Love.
Jesus taught that the commandments were fulfilled in love: firstly to love God with all your heart, souls, strength and mind and secondly to love your neighbour as yourself. Loving the Lord with all your heart involves all the love we are capable of; with all the soul means giving the whole of our life to the Lord; with all our strength means doing everything to show love to him and with all our mind involves getting to know God especially through his word, for increased knowledge of him brings increased love.
The Pharisees, Sadducees, Layers and scribes their hearts were hardened, for them it was more important to keep the Sabbath day laws than for a person to be healed.
The towns of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum were also condemned for their failure to repent after they had witnessed great miracles and healing. Luke 10: 13-16

The True Vine
Jesus said that he was the true vine, the root and stem of Jesse, the descendant of King David. Jesus bearing the fruit of God’s kingdom; healing the sick, raising the dead and the poor having the gospel preached to them.
John records Jesus prayer and towards the end of his prayer he spoke of being sanctified by the truth. “They, (his disciples) were not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; thy word is truth. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth.” John 17: 16 -19.

Sanctification – set apart for holy use.
Jesus sanctified himself by the truth of what he taught: The Sermon on the Mount Jesus spoke of plucking out and cutting off the offending member that leads us to sin.
Sanctification applies today in our walk in Christ; we are in the world but not part of it.
“The Word of God is living and active, sharper than a two edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4: 12.
We are called to be led by the Holy Spirit abiding in the words Jesus heard from his Father.
The writers of the Gospels remembered Jesus’ words they would be precious to them and a sincere person would want to record them accurately. Luke in particular emphasises to Theophilus that this was a truthful account of the eyewitnesses and ministers of the word that he may know the truth concerning the things of which he had heard from the beginning.

The Tenants of the Vineyard
The owner sent his servant to collect some fruit from the vineyard, but the tenants beat him and sent him away empty handed. Another servant was sent but they wounded him and treated him shamefully. He sent another whom they killed him. Many others were sent some they beat and some they killed.
This is in reference to the prophets that God over many years he sent to convict the leaders and people of their need to turn back to God and repent.

Elijah spoke out against Israel’s King Ahab and Queen Jezebel’s dishonesty. King Ahab and Queen Jezebel desired Naboth’s vineyard, but Naboth would not give or sell his inheritance to them. Jezebel plotted against Naboth, she wrote a letter in King Ahab’s name to the elders and nobles who lived with Naboth in his city, “Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people; and set two base fellows opposite him, and let them bring a charge against him saying, ‘You have cursed God and the king.’ Then take him out and stone him to death.” The elders and nobles of Naboth’s city did as Jezebel had requested in the letter. Naboth an innocent man was killed by being stoned to death. As soon as Ahab heard from Jezebel that Naboth was dead, she encouraged him to go and take possession of the vineyard so King Ahab went and took possession of it. 1 Kings 21: 1-16.
Prophet John the Baptist was killed by King Herod for speaking out against his sin; Herod had married his brother Philip’s wife which was against the law.

Jesus the true vine did not unite himself to the sin of the Pharisees, Sadducees, lawyers and scribes.

Finally the owner sent his son, surely he thought that they would respect his son, but they treated him the same.
God sent his Son Jesus, the Messiah, Israel’s leaders treated him with contempt.

Jesus prophesied his death, “This is the heir, let us kill him and the inheritance is ours.”

The unseen principalities and powers of darkness were hoping that by killing Jesus the devil had a claim on Israel’s vineyard.
Now it becomes clear as to why Jesus separated himself from the sin of the Pharisees, Sadducees and Lawyers. They were influenced by the inherited sin of their fallen nature.

The devil, who knew that Jesus was the Christ, but he did not know God’s plan of redemption through Jesus’ death and resurrection, which secured the victory over the devil’s power over death, sin and causes of sin, resulting in mankind’s fallen nature. Mark 1: 24, 34.

The tenants took the son they had killed and cast him out of the vineyard.
Another prophecy in the parable, Jesus was killed outside Jerusalem’s city walls, the Jews made a sin offering of a red heifer outside the city walls.
This sacrifice was to atone for “death.” its ashes were used for purification rituals and were kept at the gates outside the walls of the city.
“Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same nature, that through death he might destroy him who has the power over death, that is the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to life long bondage. Hebrews 2: 14, 15

Death has no more dominion over us.
The sin that leads to death has been dealt with by Jesus when he bore our sin on the cross and paid the price for it by lying down his innocent life and in his risen life we see the victory over death.
Through God given faith, hearing or reading, the living words of Jesus are received into the heart, the centre of our being. The Holy Spirit dwelling within us acts upon the words and by a miracle we are changed, our hardened hearts are transformed, made new, we know that death has lost its fear in us and that Jesus is our Lord God and Saviour.

The True Vine – Christ in You
Jesus the true vine, the natural make up of the vine, interpreting the way of abiding in Christ.
“If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will and it shall be done for you.” John 15: 7
The branches are totally dependant upon its life’s source from the main stem and roots and we need the care and attention of the vinedresser to help the vine to produce good fruit.
The branch, the Christian is called to walk in the Spirit and bear the fruit of God’s word so it’s us working with the living word Jesus with the help of the Holy Spirit.
A branch is complete, all that is required of it, is to grow and bear the fruit of its own harvest
and it is equal to all the other branches in its composition and description, the abundance of fruit does vary.
A Christian has the potential to be Christ-like using the gifts of the Spirit and is responsible for the working out of our calling in Christ’s body, the church.

The fruit of the vine the grape is widely used to make wine as it has more spirit content when fermented than other fruits.

“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in his love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.”
Love is the sap that rises from the root of the vine to the branches. The Holy Spirit fills each believer with the love of God,
The Holy Spirit’s gift of discernment is given freely to the believer, today more than ever we need this gift of discernment to help us stand against the wiles of the devil. Jesus tells us to ask and you shall receive.

In the parable the vineyard is given to another to bear the fruit of it. When we read Luke’s account of this parable, the others are the Gentiles.
The vineyard is comprised of both Jew and Gentile. The cross breaking down the barrier between Jew and Gentile. Ephesians 2: 11-22.

The Messiah’s Secret
At Pentecost was the first time the Apostles proclaimed that Jesus was the Christ. However, the leaders did not repent and bring the nation to accept Jesus as their true vine, the Christ.

Maybe if Jesus had been stoned to death under law the leaders of the ruling council would have considered that Jesus was the risen Christ. But as we know Jesus was killed by crucifixion which was a Roman execution therefore to a Jewish person God had allowed him to be defiled by the Gentiles which was against the law. The high priest Caiaphas was a Sadducee and they did not believe in the resurrection from the dead. These difficulties proved to be a stumbling block for the Jews to respond to the call as a nation to accept Jesus as the Christ and for them as a nation of priests to take the good news of the Christ to the rest of the world.
The Apostles were setting up the kingdom in Jerusalem in expectation of Jesus’ return with the angels and probably were hoping for a change of heart like that of King Ahab who repented of his sin against Naboth when he heard what Jezebel had done. 1 Kings 21: 25-29.

Counterfeit Vineyard of the Antichrist.
Paul in his letter to the church at Thessalonica he wrote informing them that they had not missed the calling out of the church.
They were suffering persecution and were watching and listening for Jesus calling out his church.
Paul re-assures them that the antichrist has not yet been revealed.
“The lawless one revealed by the activity of Satan will be with all power and with pretended signs and wonders and with all wicked deception for those who are to perish because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends upon them a strong delusion, to make them believe what is false.” 1 Thessalonians 2: 8-12.

Battle of Armageddon
“Angels gather clusters of grapes for the wine press, trodden under the severity of God. Revelation 14: 17-20
This is the battle were the powers of darkness will be defeated and where Jesus reigns on the earth with a rod of iron.

ark, Enoch, flood, Methuselah, Noah, nuclear energy, space exploration, synthetic biology

The Messiah’s Secret – The days of Noah

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Friday 16th March Christians Together Meeting in Haslingden, England

My nephew who now lives in Australia came to know Jesus as his Lord and Saviour through hearing about the prophesied signs that precede Jesus ‘second coming that are currently being fulfilled. One of these signs Jesus referred to was the days before the flood of Noah.

 
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“But of the day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of man. For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they did not know until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of man. Then two men will be in the field; one taken the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one taken the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.” Matthew 24: 36-42.

Days of Noah before the flood
Jesus indicated to his disciples that the sign of his coming it would be like the days of Noah were murder, polygamy and violence were rampant.
Before the flood Cain murdered Abel, afterwards he became a wanderer, a fugitive; his sin separated him from God.
Polygamy is mentioned; Lamech had two wives Adah and Zillah. He boasted to them that he had killed two men in self defence.
However after Seths’ son Enos was born, “Then men began to call upon the name of the Lord.” Genesis 4: 26

Jared’s son Enoch walked with God. Enoch named his son Methuselah which means ”When he is dead it shall come.” The name of his son prophesied the coming judgment. (The flood judgment) “Dake’s Annoted Reference Bible” Published 1961

Enoch was translated when he was 365 years old, he did not die, as a result he did not go through the flood judgment. Genesis 5: 21-24
His son Methuselah was born when Enoch was 65 years old. Methuselah lived till he was 969 years old.
Methuselah lived 187 years when his son Lamech was born. Lamech was 182 years when Noah was born. Adding the two figures together, we find that Methuselah was 369 years old when Noah was born; it was in the 600th year of Noah’s life when the flood began. Methuselah died in the year of the flood fulfilling the prophecy in his name, ”When he is dead it shall come.”

Judgment
“The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6: 5.

Noah was a man who walked with God and God asked him to make an ark. The ark would hold Noah and his family 8 persons in all, along with two of a kind of every living creature.

Extract from the Blog ‘Emmanuel.’ (Isaiah named his two sons with the prophesies given to him
The eldest son Shearjashub meaning ‘a remnant shall be saved.’ Isaiah 6: 13
Isaiah’s youngest son Mahershalahashbaz
The name meaning ‘The wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the King of Assyria.” Damascus and Israel and later Judah would be taken over by the King of Assyria. Isaiah 8: 1-8
Isaiah must have been delighted with the fulfilment of this word as it confirmed that his two sons were visible signs that God was with the people of Judah.)

Days of Noah the sign of Jesus’ coming.
St. Paul wrote of ‘Times of stress’ in the last days, “For men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanders, profligates, fierce, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding the form of religion but denying the power of it. Avoid such people.” 2 Timothy 3: 1-5
Add to what Paul wrote the following:
During my life time I’ve seen a dramatic increase in murder, a decline in marriage and divorce rates that have soared.
The majority of people do not place their hopes in Jesus or in the God given biblical prophesies in the Bible. Instead hopes are placed in science and technology as the means to provide answers to the ultimate question of ‘How did life begin? and ‘The securing of eternal life through science.’ Bodies that can have new parts as they wear out.
Synthetic biology is
A) the design and construction of new biological parts, devices, and systems,
B) the re-design of existing, natural biological systems for useful purposes.
I ask myself how far will God allow mankind to travel along this path of human engineering.

Nuclear Energy
We have the unstable nations developing nuclear technology plus the natural disasters that can have devastating consequences like the Japanese Nuclear power plant hit by the earthquake followed by the tsunami.
The land surrounding the plant is now uninhabitable and the people who once lived there are now affected by radiation from the explosions and fire that took place as the nuclear rods over heated.

Space Exploration
Cain left the Eden and became a wanderer in the earth. Our failure to steward the earth’s resources plus the human fallen nature’s desire to control everything and everybody, which usually ends up in conflict between people. Our human instinct is leading us to wander across the universe looking for planets that would sustain life as we know it on the earth.

Have we got the answers to our current world problems? I do not think so. We are certainly living in the days like that of Noah before the flood.

Enoch’s Prophecy
Jude wrote of Enoch’s far reaching prophecy, “Behold, the Lord came with his holy myriads, to execute judgment on all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness which they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” Jude 14, 15.

Jesus spoke of his coming death before he could bring in the Day of Judgment.
“I came to cast a fire upon the earth and would that it were already kindled. I have a baptism to be baptised with; and how I am constrained until it is accomplished.” Luke 12: 49, 50.

The fire of judgment that the Messiah would bring in was not to be kindled until after his death, resurrection and ascension.
Jesus having accomplished the task that his Father had given him to do: to take upon himself sin and the causes of sin by paying the price with his life’s blood being poured out in his death on the cross, where he made that final sacrifice for sin. God raised Jesus from the dead, and Jesus was seen by over 500 people after his resurrection.
It is through faith in what Jesus has done for us on the cross we receive forgiveness of all that stood against us: the generational inherited sin of Adam and Eve and personal sin. Just as Jesus was raised from the dead by God so we are raised up with Christ. We are baptised into his death and resurrection and receive the gift of eternal life.

Water Baptism
Peter in his first letter tells us that when Jesus went to the place where the lost souls of Noah’s flood were held. They heard from Jesus the message of salvation and were given the opportunity to accept or reject it. Those who received his message were raised from the grave on the day of Jesus crucifixion. 1 Peter 3:18-22 Matthew 27: 52, 53. Ephesians 4: 8

The flood waters are like the bitter water found at Marah
The Israelites left Egypt and as they travelled towards the promised land through the desert, they found themselves without water. In their search for water they came upon a pool but the water was bitter and undrinkable. Moses prayed to the Lord, in response to his prayer the Lord showed him a tree he threw it into the water. Afterwards they found the water was sweet and drinkable. Exodus 15: 22-25.
This illustrates water baptism were the bitter water represents sin and the tree represents the cross forgiveness of sins, and the sweet water represents the new life in Christ.
The Flood
The Flood represents sin and judgment.
The wooden ark representing the cross, the cross carried the Saviour; Jesus paid the price for our sin and the causes of sin through his life’s blood being poured out as the final offering for sin against God.
The dry land representing forgiveness that opens the way to the beginning of a new transformed life.

Jesus having this expectation in himself of his coming, this expectation is in us, because Christ is in us.
This hope of Jesus’ coming is born in us through Jesus’ own desire to come from heaven and call out his church.
“Then two men will be in the field; one taken the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one taken the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.”

Where ever Christians are found or what ever we are doing when we hear Jesus’ call, we leave the earth to meet Jesus in the air. 1 Thessalonians 4: 16, 17. Like Enoch who did not die and did not go through the judgment, we will be translated into Christ’s kingdom.

Mary, Martha and Lazarus. (Signs of the Times by M. R DeHaan)
Martha was told that Jesus was on the road approaching Bethany so she went out to meet Jesus and in her distress she cried out, “Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died.” Jesus re-assured her that there will be a resurrection, ”Your brother will live again.” Martha replied, “I know that he will rise in the resurrection at the last day.”
Jesus told Martha about the resurrection of believers in him. “I am the resurrection and the life: he who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die.” John 11: 25, 26.
We look again at Jesus’ words to Martha from the point of view of Jesus calling out his church from the earth,
“Though he was dead, yet shall he live?” Lazarus died in faith and Jesus called him out and raised him up from the grave. This illustrates that when the dead in Christ hear the call of Jesus, they will be resurrected to meet Jesus in the air.
“And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die.” Martha and Mary also heard Jesus’ call. Illustrating those who are alive will meet Jesus in the air when he calls out his church.
St. Paul wrote that we come together simultaneously to meet the Lord in the air and we shall be forever with the Lord Jesus. This true account taking place at the tomb is the picture of what takes place when Jesus calls out his church.

“Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.”
We need to be ready for Jesus’ coming. Noah believed God’s word to him that he would make an end of all flesh because of the violence and with them destroy the earth.
Noah and his family lived through the flood judgment by being kept safe in the ark; they escaped the judgment, like the Christians who will go through the tribulation their salvation will be kept safe in heaven.
“When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” Colossians 3: 4

By Dorothy Newton