Holy Trinity Church, Rayleigh

“Believe also in Me,” said Jesus, not—‘Believe certain things about Me.’ Leave the whole thing to Him, it is gloriously uncertain how He will come in, but He will come.

And on the third day....

Easter Service

The story of Suszi of Anitole...As he lay dying, he called one of his disciples to his bedside and whispered, “I shall soon stand before the Great Tribunal. I will not be asked, ‘Why weren’t you one of the prophets?’ or ‘Why weren’t you Moses?’ No, on that day I will simply be asked, ‘Why weren’t you Suszi? You would have made a good Suszi if you had just let go.’ ” My desire is not to be another Praying Hyde or Martin Luther. I simply want to make a good Me. That’s all God is asking of me.

New Sermon Series starting at Holy Trinity & St Michael’s

“St Paul says he is gripped by the love of Christ; that is why he acts as he does. People may call him mad or sober, but he does not care; there is only one thing he is living for, and that is to persuade people of the judgment seat of God, and of the love of Christ. This abandon to the love of Christ is the one thing that bears fruit in the life, and it will always leave the impression of the holiness and of the power of God, never of our personal holiness.”

The classical postures of prayer, arms stretched out and hands open, or head bowed and hands folded, are gestures of openness and submission to God. They express perhaps the greatest paradox of prayer: that only when we give up on our human efforts can God’s work begin and, mysteriously, human effort can come to fulfillment. As Dr. Hallesby puts it in his book Prayer, “Wherever we touch his Almighty arm, some of his omnipotence streams in upon us, into our souls and into our bodies. And not only that, but, through us, it streams out to others.”

God is not asking “Can you do more?”. He is asking “do you love me?”.

So often we seek joy and peace in the wrong places: ‘How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?’ (Psalm 4 v.2). We think that money, possessions or success will be the answer. But these are delusions and false gods. True joy and peace, as David tells us, are to be found in a relationship with God (v.3).