Learn, Launch, Re-learn, Reform

Last week I had the privilege of sharing something of the story of Grace Church at Gospel Yorkshire's second annual conference.  I'm not going to rehash it all here.  But I did want to just share one key thing which I think has been hugely helpful at every step of our journey as a church so far and in thinking about the future.  It's not original, it's based on an idea in the Redeemer church planting manual which I have always found stimulating and thought provoking.

At the initial stage when we planted a lot of time was spent trying to learn as much as possible about the area and the people and the needs.  Speaking to key people, headteachers, doctors, local councillors etc is vital and insightful.

However, as the saying goes no battle plan survives first contact.  So as we launch we need to be ready to re-learn.  How do we do that?  By listening as we get to know others in the community and work alongside them.  By continuing to ask questions and have open eyes to observe the community and our interactions with them.  Are people wary and suspicious of a church?  Are there other things that clash with when we meet?  Are there needs that are now apparent that weren't when we first started meeting?

It's also important because areas change.  The area where we meet now was only 680 houses 10 years ago.  Now it's well over 1,000 and still growing and the nature of those houses has changed as a new estate of 4 and 5 bedroom houses is rapidly being built.  It's prompting me to ask new questions as I relearn about the area as it grows.  How are those moving in now different from established populations?  How will they get on with those established in the area?  How can church bridge the gaps?  How are their preconceptions and misconceptions about church and the gospel the same or different to those already here?  How ought we to adapt to reach them with the gospel whilst still reaching those we are already trying to reach?

The process is never ending.  It is not just one that is good for planters to be aware of but for all pastors and elders.  The social landscape around us is shifting all the time, the gospel does not change but barriers to it shift as populations do and so do opportunities.  If we are not engaged in our communities, asking questions, listening to responses and praying about and for our communities we will grow increasingly distant from them and so will the gospel and the way we present it.

How's your listening?

At Grace Church when someone preaches we try to review their preaching with them, not every time they preach, but fairly regularly.  The practice helps sharpen us up as preachers of God's word.  It helps us spot verbal and visible habits which might distract people from what we are saying.  It helps us see if we are preaching in a way that is relevant to the whole congregation rather than just people like us.  It also keeps us faithful to God's word not our latest fad or hobby horse.

But as churches we rarely do a review of our listening.  Have you ever sat and wondered what you are like to preach to?  Are you someone who encourages the preacher to teach you God's word and apply it to you?  Or are you someone who saps the energy of a preacher or distracts others around you?  Here's a light hearted look at some different type of listener, which one are you?

The whisperer
This person will lean across and whisper to those around them at various points in the talk, often smiling at some shared joke or comment they have made whilst totally unaware that their "whisper" was heard by almost the whole church, who are now looking at them wondering what the joke was.

The snoozer
Sometimes due to a disrupted night with the kids or medication, or the fact that their team was last on on Match of the Day people just drop off.  One time such a dropping off was accompanied by a clunk as the gentleman's false teeth clattered to the floor.  But mostly it's just the drooping head followed by a jerk of the neck as their chin reaches their chest and they fight again for consciousness.  Sometimes it's accompanied by the noise of an angry beehive

The living dead
This person is awake, well their eyes are open, but they are glazed over and totally unresponsive.  As you preach you find yourself willing someone too poke them whilst mentally reminding yourself of CPR (who says preachers can't multitask!).  Oddly enough these people are often the ones who ask you questions proving they weren't dead they were listening.

The rustler
This person can't make it through a sermon without sweets to eat, presumably the sugars keep them from becoming comatose.  But why oh why do they choose the sweet with multiple wrappers and then entomb them in a paper bag that sounds as if they are sandpapering a rocking chair as they search for each and every sweet?

The rage
This persons eyebrows knit together the moment the last notes of the song fade and they realise the preaching has begun.  They stay knitted together in a perpetual frown for the whole time you preach.  As the sermon continues you wonder at what point they will burn you as a heretic after the service as they clearly disagree with everything you have said.

The distracted
This person has roving eye syndrome.  Not in terms of looking at others in the congregation but in terms of looking at everything other than the preacher.  Every time you look at them it looks as if they are counting the roof tiles, or how many bricks are between the projector screen and the band.

The pretender
This person is on their phone.  They will tell you that they have a bible app on their, but no bible app I've ever come across requires you to tap, swipe and flick as if you are playing angry birds.

I consider myself very fortunate with Grace Church, we have few of the above and lots of great listeners.  Listeners who make eye contact as if willing you to speak God's word to their hungry hearts.  Who smile and nod as they see where you are going.  Who work hard to avoid distraction and have disciplined themselves to listen well, knowing that good listening encourages good preaching.  And good listeners encourage a preacher to ignore the dozer, the pretender the rustler and the whisperer, because someone is hungry for God's word.

Learning to really listen

Listening is one of the most important activities we engage in day by day.  But it's not just important practically but theologically.  The Bible has lots to say about our listening, especially to how we listen to God his word and his people.  But I wonder sometimes how well we listen, with what depth?

In pastoral conversations I find I need to work really hard at listening, not because I'm not interested in the person, not because what they are saying is not important it is vitally so.  But because I'm straining to listen below the surface, to detect their view of God in their words.  Fundamentally our words reflect our view of God even as they reveal other things.  Let me give some examples to help.  When chatting with someone about a lack of assurance if we are listening theologically we will hear how they think about God - do they lack assurance because they haven't grasped how lavish God's love is?  Or because they haven't understood that God has forgiven their every sin - there are no skeletons in their closet?  Or because they haven't full embraced their status in Christ as Sons rather than tenants who must earn or contribute.

Our when talking to a couple about their marriage struggles will I listen theologically?  Listening for where they have stopped believing God has gifted them their partner for their good and godliness and his glory?  Or where they have begun wrongly believing God's love means no struggle?  Or that God wouldn't want them trapped in a tough marriage because God only longs for us to know comfort?

We need to listen theologically, what is it people are revealing about who they believe God to be and does it fit with who God has revealed himself to be?  But we then need to go one step further.  We need to help people listen theologically to themselves, to see the view of God they are articulating and help them see the true God we worship.

How much is false teaching a threat to our churches?

I was teaching recently and as part of the session asked the group I was with what dangers their churches faced.  There were lots of dangers listed but no-one mentioned false teaching, which struck me as odd because the New Testament seems to see false teaching as a very real threat.  It's dangers are commented on in Acts 20 in Paul's warning to the Ephesian elders.  False teaching features heavily in the letters to Galatia and Colossae.  Romans 6 suggests another potential source of false teaching, 1 and 2 Timothy, 1 John and Jude warn against false teaching and in Jesus' letters to the 7 churches in Revelation he warns a number of churches about it.  How have we come to assume, something the bible takes so seriously, will not be a problem for us?

It's worth saying that there is a difference between bad or inadequate preaching and false teaching, and between mistaken preaching and false teaching.  False teaching is in error about something central to the Christian faith (e.g. denying Jesus is the Messiah, or was a real flesh and blood man, or which redefines sin so that things the Bible says are abhorrent are called good).  False teaching holds on to that teaching even when it is shown to be unbiblical, they will not be corrected even by God's word.  False teaching actively teaches this error to the church.

Now I wanted to be exact about that because it matters that we are careful in our definition of false teaching.  It is not false teaching if someone disagrees with us about mode of baptism, or number of times the church should meet or the like.  It is false teaching if they deny Jesus died for our sins or anything else central to the gospel.  It is not false teaching if their mode of teaching is just different from ours.  One of the great problems in our day is tribalism, but just because someone is different doesn't make them a false teacher.  We need to carefully listen and discern using the above three criteria.

But back to the question how much of a threat is false teaching to our churches.  False teaching is as big a threat in our day as it was in the apostles.  It is real it is alive and it is hollowing out churches by drawing them away from the gospel and into Christ-less salvation-less religion.  That is why the Holy Spirit has preserved the bible for us so that we weigh what we hear in light of what God's inspired word reveals to us.  It is where the authority and truth lies.

So if false teaching is a real threat what should we do?

1. Pray for those who teach you.  Pray that God will speak to them as they work hard at his word to teach it faithfully and apply it to our lives.
2. Listen Carefully.  Listen with your brain switched on to what you are being taught, taking notes may help, discussing it afterwards may help, you can often listen to it again via mp3 or podcast.  Don't sit back and turn your brain off, listen actively.
3. Look at what you are being taught.  Have the bible open in front of you.  Unless you know the whole bible word for word you need to be checking with the written word that what you are being taught is what the passage says.  It's even better if you have also read the passage and jotted down some questions before you come, it helps your brain be engaged and you are already thinking through issues.
4. Engage with the preacher.  The preacher doesn't want a that was a nice sermon on the door.  He wants you to ask him questions about the passage, to straighten out anything he didn't explain well or you just didn't get.  He wants to help you apply it to your life in detail in ways you can only do one on one.
5. Look at lives don't just listen to words.  In the New Testament ungodliness is a mark of false teaching, this makes it vital that we examine peoples lives as we listen to their teaching.  Not in terms of judging or being critical but in terms of looking to see the gospel lived out, sin fought, good done, and sinners called to follow Jesus.  Pray for your bible teachers here too, that they would be changed and thank God when they are.

Can you imagine the difference doing those five things would make to your listening, and as a preacher let me tell you a secret, it would also encourage and probably improve the preacher and their preaching.  They should be the norm as we seek to avoid false teaching by loving and pursuing and encouraging good teaching of the word of God.

Church Attachment Disorder

We tend to polarise things as either good or bad.  The issue is not the thing it is the human heart that uses it.  The internet has been a tremendous force for good but it has also been twisted so that it promotes sin and dulls love for Christ.

One of the areas where it has been at its most beneficial and its most destructive is in the easy access we have to podcasts or MP3s. It is brilliantly helpful to be able to download and listen to experienced preachers preach well, I always have 4 or 5 sermons on my phone so I can listen to them.  Sermons from Pastors in the UK, the states and further afield, some well know others less so, and they are immensely helpful.  They are also great if you can't make a conference, to be able to listen later is invaluable.  It is also immensely helpful within our churches, those who are out teaching the children can listen again in the week, we ourselves can listen again to help solidify thing sin our minds and apply it to our hearts and lives.  Used wisely and discerningly they can help us with preparation.

But we also need to recognise that there can be destructive effects.  Increasingly there seems to be a detachment from real living breathing church, I've heard a number of people say when asked why they've been missing church.  "Oh, I don't really need church, I've decided to stay at home and listen to _________(fill in the blank with a more well known pastor) on the internet."    This attitude is leading to a church detachment disorder - Christians who will not commit to a local congregation with its joys and sorrows, or listen to a pastor who may not preach as well as a more experienced pastor but is a living breathing pastor.

Such an attitude has reduced church to the sermon, and ignores the congregation and the benefit of real relationships therein.  I wonder if this has partly arisen because of a misunderstanding, maybe even a wrong emphasis, in the church on the sermon.  Our interaction with the Bible must not stop at listening to the sermon, but we are to be working it into one another's lives, to be discussing it together, to be challenging one another, to be comforting one another as we look to change in light of what we've heard as we apply the gospel within the church family.

I wonder if another thing that has led to this problem is seeing pastors solely as preachers.  Are we guilty of this?  Do our people see us outside of the pulpit, outside of a Sunday?  Are we loving them, speaking the truth to them during the week as well as Sundays?

Church attachment disorder is the result of lots of forces in society but we also need to recognise the part we may play in encouraging it, and repent of those misunderstandings we may have helped propagate and change.

1 Samuel 13 Rejected King

Here are the questions and notes from last night's LightHouse on 1 Samuel 13:

1. Read through the passage what surprises you, what amazes you, what don’t you understand?

2. What excuses might someone make for doing what we want rather than what God wants?

There are times when it is easier to live out your faith than others. When at a conference or camp, or when surrounded by other believers it’s easy to sing or make bold protestations about standing for God, giving our all, or wholehearted obedience. It’s much harder in a stressed out workplace or amongst an antagonistic family, or when facing a crisis.

Ch12 ends with Israel on a spiritual high, if you’d interviewed them as they left the assembly and asked if God was good and their deliverer they would have readily agreed. If you’d asked them if they and their king would serve God wholeheartedly they would have been fired up and quick to say yes. God was their good and gracious king, their deliverer and they were privileged to be his people living under his rule and the rule of his King. Ch12 and the promising beginning Saul has made is why Ch13 is such an unpleasant jolt to our expectations.

Even the initial skirmishes look promising, prince Jonathan leads the way and Saul looks set to deliver Israel under God, and the people respond to the summons to fight for God and King and rid the land of the Philistines, their oppressors.

But then(5-7) the test of that faith comes, is their faith real, is their concept of God big enough, is their heart wholly devoted and trusting God, do they really understand who he is and what he has promised them? Will they serve and trust him? As 3,000 chariots, 6,000 charioteers and numerous soldiers in Philistine colours appear armed tooth and nail, and Israel face them with their ploughshares, axes and sickles, can God really deliver?

Tragically Israel’s trust in God melts away into the caves and thickets just as they do, even those who have the guts to stand with Saul do so with their knees knocking. What will Israel’s king do? How will Saul lead the people? Will he be a king like the people or the king the people need?

1. The Real Battle is fought in our Hearts
You can picture the scene in (8)can’t you, you can feel the mounting pressure as Saul waits for 7 days, on the seventh day finally the waiting is over there is expectancy among the troops. Samuel will come make the offerings and give us God’s word as we go into battle. The troops are restless and afraid and as the hours tick on the men begin to scatter. **What does logic say to do? Logic says do something to make them stay, lead the people. Logic says (9)“Bring me the burnt offerings and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offers the burnt offering up himself.

You can imagine as Saul turns round the smell of smoke on his clothes and sees Samuel coming into the camp. Remember the significance of ch12, Saul is God’s king ruling under God’s authority, Samuel is God’s prophet who brings God’s word to the king. You can imagine how Saul feels and he does exactly what we’d do in that situation he starts making excuses(13). The men were scattering, you didn’t come, the Philistines were amassing ready to attack and we hadn’t sought God’s favour, we hadn’t made the offerings. Notice who Saul blames; everyone else, other people, circumstances, enemies, anything but recognise and take responsibility for his actions. It’s a pattern established in Genesis 3 with Adam and Eve, and one which finds us out too. But all those excuses are shown up for what they are – Saul trying to earn God’s favour by disobeying God’s word.

It isn’t simply the mechanics of making an offering that are the issue here, it’s the heart behind the offering. Look back at 12:20, 24, it was all about the heart. The offerings weren’t a means of currying divine favour but a means of showing your wholehearted devotion to God. The burnt offering was made in recognition of the need to atone for sin, and the offerer identified with the offering being made in his place. The burnt offering was a means of atoning for God’s wrath against sin. The fellowship offering was either a thanksgiving offering, or the result of a vow or a freewill offering, either way it was a means of recognising dependence on God and was a sign of love and devotion to God.

It wasn’t the offering itself but the heart behind them that mattered, they were meant to be offered as an expression of love, devotion and covenant faithfulness. Saul is more concerned about performing the outward act than serving God with all his heart. That is made clear in (14)as the contrast is made with Saul and the king who will replace him who will be “a man after God’s own heart...”

God looks at the heart not the outward action. Saul starts so well but when the pressure is on his true heart is revealed. Pressure doesn’t make him someone he isn’t it just reveals who he really is. The excuses reveal what he loves and fears more than God.

God isn’t concerned about externals but about our hearts. Sometimes we can fool ourselves into thinking that if the externals are OK then we are OK, this warns us against that. We can be going to church, even be leading something and we kid ourselves into thinking if I’m doing that then my heart must be ok. God has not saved us for religious rigmarole but for a relationship of enjoying and loving living under his good rule.

It also, helpful, tells us that our excuses for failing to serve God reveal and diagnose our hearts. At root everyone one of Saul’s excuses diagnose a heart not serving and loving God, not trusting in God’s rescue and wanting to rule his kingdom in his way in his time not God’s. Our excuses will do the same.

What excuses have you made this week, or month or year, for doing what you want when you want rather than waiting for God or obeying his word? Each of those excuses reveal our hearts, what we fear and treasure more than God and what we at root think about God. Imagine the individual who decides they have waited long enough for God to provide a believing husband so she starts dating the non-Christian guy in the office. The excuse is ‘but I have waited so long and there is no one, all my friends are getting married and having children’. What does that say about them – ‘I am not whole in Christ I need a relationship.’ What does it say about God? ‘I can’t trust him because he hasn’t provided what I know I need’. What does it say about a relationship? ‘It will provide fulfilment.’

For every choice we make our excuses reveal our hearts.

We mustn’t kid ourselves, the real battle is not fought with externals it is fought in our hearts.

2. It is dangerous to dismiss God’s word
Turn to the person you are sat with, what did you learn from this morning’s Bible talk and what difference will it make to you this week?  What did you learn from last week’s Bible talk and what difference has it made to you in the week since?

We will come back to that in just a few minutes. The issue in this chapter is Saul’s heart and his desire to serve God, but you can’t serve God if you won’t listen to his word, and that’s the issue which Samuel picks out in his responses to Saul. Just look at (13-14)**What does Samuel highlight twice? “You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you...because you have not kept the LORD’s command.”

Loving God is a heart issue but it’s out working is seen in valuing, listening to and keeping his word.

Now the question here is which command has Saul failed to keep. Some say(8) and failing to wait 7 days at Gilgal links to 10:8 when Samuel initially calls Saul and tells him to wait 7 days at Gilgal before Samuel comes to him and Saul here is failing to obey that command. That is possible. but I think unlikely, because that command is given before he is made king and is connected with his anointing, in ch10 Saul is described as a young man, whereas here he has a grown son, old enough to command a portion of the troops. I think it’s better to see 10:8 fulfilled in 11:14 where Israel assemble with Saul at Gilgal to renew the kingship.

So what is the command Saul here has not obeyed? The command is ch12’s call for both people and king to serve God(20-25) as Samuel teaches them the way that is good and right and they respond by fearing God and serving him faithfully. So when Samuel instructs Saul again to wait for him at Gilgal(4) Saul initially obeys God’s command through Samuel to gather at Gilgal and he waits so long, but he does not keep God’s word. Samuel was a prophet he taught Israel God’s word, when he is coming to Gilgal he comes as the prophet, not just to make the offerings but to bring God’s word.

Saul’s actions show contempt for God’s word, he will not wait as instructed. In the face of an emergency God’s word is dispensable and disposable. It’s all the more lamentable given the history Samuel rehearsed in ch12 of God saving through deliverers who listened to and acted upon his words in order to bring about God’s deliverance.

And the consequences are devastating. The kingdom will now not pass on down Saul’s family line. You can’t lead God’s people unless you listen to the word of the real king. And the chapter ends with Israel in a hopeless situation; no swords bar 2, no blacksmith to make more, facing a well armed hoard. The people are scattering and hiding terrified, the Philistines are raiding at will, and most tragically Samuel leaves – there is no hope of hearing God’s word. Saul has shown he views it as dispensable and so Samuel leaves Israel and their king without the word of God.

Serving God with all your heart isn’t about religious rigmarole but about treasuring God’s word, trusting waiting, loving obedience because you know God is in control and you need his guidance. It’s about relationship, in relationships we treasure the words of others, they matter to us, we seek to understand them and through those words to know the other person and we act on what they reveal.

God’s word is an instrument to shape and mould our minds and character to be like Jesus, it’s not a series of instant fixes arranged by alphabetical topical index. As it unfolds to us the character of God and we are swept up into his plan of salvation and see how much we are loved and are given we come to love and enjoy God and entrust ourselves to him because we know he will never do us wrong. We come to wait listening expectantly because we know he is working for a greater purpose than our comfort, we come to rejoice in him because of a growing confidence in his power and love.

How is your listening? How do you approach listening to the sermon or bible talk? What do you do to maximise the talk? How have you trained yourself to make the most out of it? Have you trained yourself to listen well? Is your listening active or passive? Have you recognised what stops you listening and how you can counter that?

What would it be like if people preached in the same style in which we often people listen, rather than being active and passionate, imploring and explaining, the preacher would be passive and inattentive. Except, we wouldn't put up with it because preaching is a serious thing, presenting the word or God, imploring God's people to hear and respond is a joyful task. So why if we wouldn't accept that from a preacher do we accept it in our listening?

The Bible doesn't just say that those who preach will be held accountable but also those who listen, that’s striking. So how could you train yourself to listen better, here are a few ways:

- Read the passage before you come, note down questions and see if they get answered.
- Pray before you come asking God to make you expectant and open your eyes, ears and heart.
- Have your Bible open and keep checking out what’s being said.
- Follow cross references and look them up.
- Take notes - we do it for anything else we want to retain or reference again, why not for God's word which is the very word of eternal life!
- Agree with some friends or family that you will discuss the questions or talk over lunch afterwards.
- Create the expectation that you will revisit the talk with others at some point in the week.
- Be self controlled - stop yourself when distracted by the fly or the background or your week ahead.
- Pray afterwards asking God to help you weigh up what you have heard and respond to it.

Responding to God's word is what living enjoying our relationship with him looks like.

1. How do those excuses reveal what we think about other? What we think about God? What we think about ourselves? And what we think will really bring us fulfilment?

2. What stops you listening to God’s word and acting on it? How can we improve our listening and make God’s word active? 

Active preaching needs active listening

How is your listening?  How do you approach listening to the sermon or bible talk on Sunday morning or/and evening at church, or in CU, or at the conference?  What do you do to maximise the talk?  How have you trained yourself to make the most out of it?  Have you trained yourself to listen well?  Is your listening active or passive?  Have you recognised what stops you listening and how you can counter that?

I'm just toying with the idea one Sunday of preaching in the same style in which many people listen, rather than being active and passionate, imploring and explaining, I might be passive and inattentive to what I preach.  I might meander a bit, let my attention wander (that might be dangerous given some of the potential digressions that might lead to - it may even be more boring!), drift off.  Except I wouldn't because preaching is a serious thing, presenting the word or God, imploring God's people to hear and respond is a joyful task.  And I think I'd be out of a job pretty quickly.  So why if we wouldn't accept that from a preacher do we accept it in our own listening?

The Bible doesn't just say that those who preach will be held accountable but also those who listen, that is a sobering thought.  So how could you train yourself to listen better, here are a few ways:

- Read the passage before you come, note down questions and see if they get answered.
- Pray before you come asking God to make you expectant and open your eyes, ears and heart.
- Have your Bible open and keep on checking out what is being said.
- Follow cross references and look them up.
- Take notes - we do it for anything else we want to retain or reference again, why not for God's word which is the very word of eternal life!
- Agree with some friends or family that you will discuss the questions or talk over lunch afterwards.
- Create the expectation that you will revisit the talk with others at some point in the week.
- Be self controlled - stop yourself when distracted by the fly or the background or your week ahead.
- Pray afterwards asking God to help you weigh up what you have heard and respond to it.

Developing our listening

I want to post a few further thoughts this morning about how we can develop our listening so that we get the most out of hearing the bible taught. 

We need to move our listening into the foreground.  Many of us have grown up with music in the background of our lives.  We drive with a CD on or the radio on, we do the dishes or any other chores with the radio on as background noise, we may even work with background music.  But listening to the bible is so significant that we must not be content to let it remain in the background.  Rather we need to move it to the foreground we need to work hard to make everything we hear count.  We all expect pastors and preachers to be held accountable for what they preach and teach but the bible frequently warns us about our listening and how we will be held accountable for what we hear.  But how can we do that:

1. Follow cross references
Nothing wakes us up like a physical stimulus, now in most talks there isn't a moment when you are asked to get up stretch, touch your toes, turn around and sit down - (though maybe I should think of incorporating that!), but you can help stay focused, help keep listening in the foreground by turning the pages of your bible to follow the cross-references, by physically moving in your chair every so often (both of these also help the preacher by encouraging them that someone in the congregation is still alive and more than that they are following).

2. React to what you are hearing
Have you ever thought about your facial screen saver. Here are some light hearted suggestions so you can see which is your facial screen saver:

The Bulldog screen saver – They just look angry all the time, furrowed brow, bunched eye brows.
The Brick Counting screen saver– Looks round the room as if counting the number of bricks, chairs, carpet tiles etc... but never makes eye contact with the speaker.
The White Rabbit screen saver – Like the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland always looking at their watches or the clock.
The 'To Let' screen saver- 5 minutes in there are no signs of life, this person hasn’t blinked since the first minute and you find yourself wondering if you should dial 999 with one hand whilst you continue to teach.
The Nodder screen saver – Their head begins upright but gradually dips down towards their chest before bolting back up again.  (We once had a new variation on this - it was the nodder with additional denture loss - quite a shock for the person sat next to them who thought it was a pen or something and bent down to pick them up!)
And lastly the Eutychus screen saver – These people may not drop out of the window and die but they are asleep.

That’s a bit of fun but there is a serious side to it. We need to welcome and encourage people to speak God’s word to us, and we ought to think about how our face and body language encourages or discourages others from speaking God’s word to us, and how we can utilise it to help us listen.

For example it may help to make eye contact, follow the passage, smile occasionally, nod. Engaging with someone is welcoming and helps us listen.

3. Rerun the talk
Imagine its Sunday church finished 30minutes ago and a friend asks you what the preacher spoke on this morning, could you give an answer?  How about on Monday morning, or Wednesday afternoon, or Friday evening? Our instant knee jerk reaction is to blame the speaker 'Well he wasn't very good so I can't remember.'  Or blame the busyness of life or some other lame excuse.  But if that's you why not re-run the talk, why not as friends get together to discuss it point by point - not in a critical well it would have been better if, but in an applicational way - asking where this really impacts our lives.  Why not download the mp3 so that you can listen to it again?  You could even encourage someone who couldn't make it by meeting up and listening to it again over a cup of coffee, or if they aren't well enough give them a potted version of it with Bible in hand.

We live in a culture that produces so much noise that we have learnt to relegate much of what we hear to the background.  We take every promise with the advertisers pinch of salt, listen to ever definite as if its a possible, and hear every hope through a filter of cynicism.  But the bible is God's word and it is far to real, to precious and to significant for us to let ourselves do that!  We must work hard to develop our listening.

As a side note those who teach and preach are often the worst listeners, we need to learn to take of the 'I would have said' filters.  Not so that we don't give feedback but so that we don't short circuit God's word to us and our responsibility as hearers as well as preachers.

The struggle to listen

We all want the preacher to have worked hard on the text, we'd love there to be an interesting introduction that captures our attention and draws us to see the relevance of the text the preacher is explaining to our lives.  We demand faithfulness to the bible and the sermon to be woven through with the bibles big picture.  We'd love there to be a couple of amusing jokes, or wry and witty observations, we'd love the bible talk not to be too long but just long enough and to point us clearly to Jesus and the applicability of the gospel to our hearts and lives.  And we'd love it to end with a bang rather than a whimper

When put like that we begin to realise how much we expect (or hope for) from our bible teachers, that is quite a bit to cram in, especially as preparation and bible teaching are just one part of the job description.  But what ought our preachers to expect of us listeners?  Just as I prepare so that I am ready to preach on a Sunday morning or evening just as preachers strive be be ready, how do we as listeners be ready to hear the word of God.

I wonder how much thought you have given to that question?  Its easy to fall into the blame some one else culture - I didn't get much from this morning because the preacher was boring, or there were just too many bricks on the back wall that I got distracted and started counting them, or the person in front was eating sweets, or this kamikaze fly kept dive bombing my head and putting me off.  So how can we as listeners do our part well.

1. Be physically ready
Be engaged mentally and ready physically before the service.  I remember reading an interesting article on preacher preparation that spoke about the need to fuel and refuel for the preacher, to have eaten enough to have energy but not too much so that you are sluggish and to be hydrated enough that you didn't need to keep stopping to have a drink of water whilst preaching.  But what about for listeners, I think the same applies be physically prepared to engage mentally - have eaten before you come, be hydrated but not needing the loo, especially if you suffer from TB (Tiny Bladder).

Have you thought through what physically helps you concentrate?  Is it note taking, is it writing questions about the talk and explanation and application of the passage as it is given?  Is it having the odd mint imperial to suck?  In the hot summer months (this only applies if you don't live in the UK) does a bottle of water help you stayed focused?  Is it knowing you will be discussion this over the lunch table with friends?

What about how you view the bible?  Is it a hard copy, is it on a phone or other device?  I have no problem with any of those, though my personal preference is the hard copy.  The key thing if using a mobile device is does it distract or help you focus, would using air plane mode help further by removing potential distraction?

2. Be Mentally switched on
Sometimes the way we approach preaching is very passive, we turn up and expect the preacher to engage us in the first 2 minutes of the talk or feel justified in drifting off.  But what about our responsibility as hearers to engage?  And how do we do that?  Have you read the passage at home, have you jotted down questions you have and things you have spotted to see if they match up with where the preacher goes?  Could you do this as a couple or with friends so that mentally you are all engaged and accountable?

3. Make it live long
What do we do afterwards?  How do we as listeners ensure that God's word explained and applied does it work in our hearts?  Is it sitting and praying with someone afterwards?  Is it having 5 minutes of quiet personal reflection?  Is it lovingly helping one another push the application of the passage deeper into one another's lives?

There will be times when God's word is like an arrow to our hearts, when we can't but listen.  But how do we maximise those times when that is not the case, we are not at liberty to switch off because this is still God's word.  How good am I as a listener?  How good am I at these basic things?

Welcoming God's Word

From 1 Samuel 3 we were thinking about this on Sunday, how good are we at welcoming God's word at encouraging others to speak God's word to us, at encouraging our home group leaders and others as they speak, at encouraging our pastor as he preaches, or encouraging our friends to speak the truth in love to us.

There are a number of ways we can encourage others to speak God's word to us:

1. Speak words of welcome
Are we inviting others to speak God's word to us, to encourage us and build us up.  That may mean we need to ask someone to do that because at the moment it is not the norm.  It may mean modelling it with others so that we share with them what we have been encouraged by reading or hearing this week and asking them what has encouraged them.  It will certainly mean taking part in gospel or home group - engaging in the discussion, asking questions, and giving answers.

It will mean discussing the bible talk you have heard with others after the service over coffee, maybe asking what someone found helpful or what questions it raised, or where they think that will apply to their lives.  In know that often it is in these conversations when the truths of a passage really get traction in my life.  Such discussion helps ground them and is a sign that we want to welcome God's word to change us rather than just sit and listen to someone speak.

2. Show you welcome it
We often don't realise how much encouragement or discouragement our facial expressions and or body language can convey to someone trying to speak to us.  I gave these slightly tongue in cheek examples of faces people pull when they are listening on Sunday mornings:

• The Bulldog screen saver – They look angry all the time, furrowed brow, bunched eye brows, you find yourself wondering what you could possibly have said to offend them.
• The Brick Counting screen saver– Looks round the room as if counting the number of bricks, chairs, carpet tiles etc... but never makes eye contact with the speaker.
• The White Rabbit screen saver – Like the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland always looking at their watches or the clock, sometimes simply moves from one to the other.
• The To Let screen saver- 5 minutes in there are no signs of life, this person hasn’t blinked since the first minute and you find yourself wondering if you should dial 999 with one hand whilst you continue to teach everyone else.
• The Nodder screen saver – This person begins with their head begins upright but gradually dips down towards their chest as their eyes droop before bolting back up again.
• And lastly the Eutychus screen saver – These people may not drop out of the window and die but they are asleep, sometimes the odd snore or trail of drool creeps out just so you can be sure.

They are a bit of fun but they also reflect the reality of a sea of faces on a Sunday morning.  It is worth asking does my expression convey that I am welcoming God's word, could I smile occasionally, make eye contact, nod my head, maybe even smile at the joke.

And what about body language?  It is hard to encourage someone whose body language conveys that they are disinterested.  If our shoulders are slumped and we are sprawled out it conveys disinterest, if we are stood with arms folded it feels like encouraging a brick wall.

We want to be those who are encouraging others to speak God's word to us because we treasure it and because it is the power of God to change us and save the world one life at a time.

Hebrews 3v7-19 - So...don’t harden your hearts but encourage each other

Here are my notes from yesterday.

In Hebrews the pastor has exhorted his readers to fix their thoughts on Jesus because he is the ultimate revelation of God and their faithful high priest who has made them God’s holy people and calls them heavenwards. Now he turns to what they should do in the light of that, he does so by giving them a negative example of how not to respond, before looking at the promise of rest in chapter 4.

1. God speaks to us
How does v7 begin? “So, as the Holy Spirit says...” What tense does he use? The present tense, God the Holy Spirit is speaking to the Hebrew believers. How? The pastor takes them through a worked example of how God speaks, as he quotes Psalm 95 then explains, interprets and applies it to his readers.

Psalm 95 may be over a thousand years old but God speaks to them through it just as he spoke to its original hearers. Psalm 95 is divided into two parts the first half calls Israel to worship God, the second warns them not to have hard hearts but to respond to God because that is true worship. It makes that call as it looks back to Israel in the wilderness.

In Hebrews the emphasis is on Numbers 13-14. Where after God has rescued Israel from Egypt, having eaten the Passover, experienced God’s protection, walked through the Red Sea and the desert to the edge of the Promised Land, Israel refuse to enter because the spies see big walls and strong men. Even when Caleb and Joshua encourage them “do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us.” They refuse to take the land, in fact they begin to pick up stones to stone them. And God says “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them?”

God spoke to Israel on the verge of the Promised Land, God spoke through Psalm 95 and called them to learn and not repeat the unbelief of their ancestors. God speaks through the Psalm echoing that warning and applying it to the Hebrew believers, and today God by his Spirit speaks to us using those same words.

God speaks through his word, that’s in part what the Pastor wants to teach here. God the Holy Spirit speaks to his people ‘today’ as they read his word, as we read the Old Testament, and read about his ultimate revelation Jesus. As we read the Bible we hear God speaking.

As you came along this morning was that your expectation? That God would speak to you as his word was read and then we looked at it together? Is that what you were expectantly praying? Is that how we approach the bible during the week?

You may say but when I read it I don’t feel like I hear God speak. Can I lovingly say; what you feel is irrelevant, God is speaking the question is; are we listening? We’ve been conditioned to expect instant results, we’ve listened to the lie that good things are easy to discern and quick to understand. And we carry that into our listening to God – God gets 5 minutes squeezed in between the shower and breakfast.

But what does it to look like to really listen to someone? It involves putting aside distractions, concentrating on what they are saying, discerning what they mean and a right response to it.
God is our loving heavenly father and we are his children, made holy, given Jesus perfect record and he wants to speak to us. Don’t feel guilty about what you haven’t done but recognise the wonder that God speaks to us and listen to him.

The big question for the Hebrews and us is how will we respond to God’s word? There are two responses.

2. How are we responding?
There are two possible responses to God’s words: Unbelief, and Belief

a. Unbelief
Israel are a negative example, how not to respond. Look at (12)what is the warning? Make sure you don’t have a sinful unbelieving heart that turns away from God.

Do you see the problem; unbelief, refusing to trust God’s word, and it comes from their hard hearts(8). It was Israel’s problem and it is a danger for the Hebrews and us.

As Israel stood on the verge of the Promised Land God said “Send some men to explore the land, Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites.” But as the 10 spies reported back their conclusion is that God can’t do what he has said. The problem is unbelief, it’s not the fortified cities, the giants, or the strong people but that they do not believe God will give them what he has promised, and hard hearts lead them to turn away from God.

What are the consequences of their turning away? (17-18)God is angry and they are judged for 40years, only 2 of that generation experience God’s rest.

Don’t refuse God’s word. It’s tempting to think that isn’t a problem for us, but that would be the impossible application of this passage. It’s the conclusion that is impossible to draw from this passage – unbelief was a danger for Israel on the verge of the Promised Land, for Israel centuries later, for the Hebrew believers, it is a danger for us.

And actually we do respond to God with unbelief don’t we. Often it’s when we say or think the word ‘But’. We know we are forgiven for something in our past, yet find ourselves thinking ‘I know Jesus paid for all my sin but I just don’t feel forgiven.’ Do you see what we are doing – refusing to believe.

Or when we know it is important to build on the relationship with God he has given us and to listen to his word yet we find ourselves responding with a ‘But, I don’t feel God speaking to me’ or ‘But it’s OK for him or her they find it easy’ or ‘But I haven’t got time.’ Or when we read of God’s call to us not to worry because we are his children and he knows what we need and we think ‘Yeah but I really need a husband, or a child, or whatever it is that we long for...’ Do you see how every but is the stirring of unbelief.

Some illness come with warning symptoms, a sore throat means ... When we find ourselves responding to God’s word with a ‘But’ be alarmed, it is the first sign, a warning symptom of developing ‘Israelitus’ - a hardening heart, the beginnings of unbelief.

b. Belief?
If Israel are what not to be like, so how should we respond? Specifically the pastor is making a particular link between the Israelites and the Hebrews in terms of when they live.

In Numbers 14 Israel are where? On the doorstep of the Promised Land, they have experienced God’s redemption, they are God’s people, now they are about to enter God’s promised rest.

In Psalm 95 where are Israel? They are established in the Promised Land, and yet the warning is that refusal to believe will forfeit experiencing God’s rest, so the rest it talks about must be something more than Canaan. Canaan was just a picture that looked back and echoed the garden of Eden but also looked forward to the future eternal rest God’s people would enjoy.
The Hebrew Christians and we along with them have experienced God’s redemption through Jesus, we are his people and are on a journey to his rest. We and they live in the time of tension we have been redeemed and made God’s children, called to heaven but living awaiting its coming with all the tension that brings.

The call to believe is specifically to remember our heavenly calling, to trust in God’s word of promise that (4:1)”Since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short.” Believe God’s promise in the pressure that comes as you wait for his rest, don’t doubt, believe, don’t respond with a ‘but’.

(14)You are God’s children made holy through Jesus atoning blood, called with Jesus to share in an unshakeable kingdom trust in God to get you there as you follow him, hold onto to your original conviction.

We have a temptation to be individualistic, it is our default setting, maybe you are thinking I must hold firmly, but that is not enough. Look at (13)the antidote to a sinful unbelieving heart is to “encourage one another daily”, because that stops us being hardened by sins deceitfulness.
What does encouraging one another look like? It’s what Joshua and Caleb do in Numbers 14, they call the people to trust in God’s word and his promise. It’s what the pastor is doing as he writes this letter applying the bible to his listener’s lives.

How committed are you to encouraging others? We come together on a Sunday and encourage one another as we listen to God’s word, we do it at LightHouse, in Home Groups, but we need to be doing this organically too.

At our day away we spoke about one of our values: Real relationships are encouraged and developed as we work the gospel into one another’s lives and the community. That has to be more than just a line on a piece of paper. It is about more than just the formal settings, but about encouraging each other at every opportunity.
If we don’t encourage each other we place one another in danger.
Perhaps this morning you are saying I don’t know how. Here’s some things you can do over coffee to encourage others:
1. Ask someone how their week has been
2. Ask ‘what can I pray for you this week?’ Then pray!
3. Pray with someone
4. Share an encouragement or something God has been teaching you?
5. Commit to being with people and getting to know them.
6. Be honest in your responses to people’s questions, and ask them to pray for you.
7. Follow up when you next see that person.
8. Ring someone who hasn’t been around for a couple of weeks to see if they are OK, pray for them, and encourage them.
9. Always be ready to respond with grace and forgiveness.
10. Swallow gossip and speak in love

Look at (19)it’s a tragic reminder of the consequences of unbelief, not all Israel entered God’s promised rest, in fact they rejected God and then tried to enter in their own strength and were unable to. They didn’t encourage one another and they rejected the encouragement of others.

Do you see the warning – don’t reject God’s word, don’t respond to it with a ‘But’ believe his promise, live now looking for his rest, entrusting yourself to him who is faithful. And be encouraging others, taking as many others with you as you go.

Listening

How do you encourage your pastor?

"Few things are more discouraging or dishonoring to such men than a congregation inattentive to the Word of God. Faithful men flourish at the fertile reception of the preached Word. They're made all the more bold when their people give ear to the Lord's voice and give evidence of being shaped by it. As church members, we can care for our pastors and teacher and help to prevent unnecessary discouragement and fatigue by cultivating the habit of expositional listening."

From 'What is a Healthy Church Member?'

How is your listening

1 John 4:1-6 is an interesting section of John's letter.
John writes to reassure, and (3:24) reassures his readers they are God’s children because he lives in them by his spirit. But 4:1 is a warning not every spirit is from God.

1. Be discerning
John exhorts his readers to exercise discernment when listening to those who claim to speak in the name of God. He doesn’t want them to be gullible. Instaed they are to test what people teach them, why? (1) “because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
In fact (2:19-23) even from in their own church ppl had left. Why? Because they denied Jesus Christ, the issue seemed to be that they denied he was the Messiah (2:22). In Chapter 4:2 it is that they are denying that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. Do you see why it matters? – because if you deny Jesus came in the flesh, then he has not suffered in the flesh and the gospel dissolves. So John exhorts his readers to be discerning, to test what people teach.

It poses the question how is my listening? Is it discerning listening? Do I have the Bible open in front of me as people teach me? I guess we may find ourselves thinking ‘its ok its so and so I know them I can trust them. Or I’ve read their other books so it’ll be ok.’ That is just what this passage is saying you can’t do – these men now teaching heresy used to be in the church. Be discerning

2. Be testing
John gives them two tests of what people are teaching them (6) so that they may recognise the spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood. 1. Good teaching teaches that Jesus came in the flesh (2) thsi is expressed both negatively(3) and positively(2). 2. Good teaching is in the apostolic tradition (6).

Do you see the two tests? What does it say about Jesus and does it fit with what the Apostles taught? It is not Jesus + or Jesus-, it is just the gospel of grace.

Notice it doesn’t give numerical response as a test. Why? Because the world will love to hear what the world wants to hear (5). We need to listen to this warning from John. Numbers don't equal good teaching.

Am I applying those two tests? Do I examine what I read and hear in light of those two areas?

3. Be encouraged
This is a letter written to reassure and even here John does that. (4) God’s children are overcomers. In this battle between the world and God, between the spirit of God and the spirit of the antichrist. (4) the outcome is not in doubt they are overcomers not because of what they do but because Christ when he ascended poured out his spirit into his people.

Be discerning, be testing, be encouraged.

Listening to that good teaching , holding on to Jesus as God’s Son the Messiah made man will affect the way we live (7-21) as we seek to live like him.

Good listening

The Together for the Gospel (T4G) conference is taking place at the moment over in the states those at Sovereign Grace Ministries have made available the MP3s from panel discussions and preaching from those like John Piper, Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, John MacArthur and others. I'm just beginning to listen to them and they are well worth a listen.

Here is the link: Click