Thankfully ECBC does not reflect the ‘Church Gone Wild’ image of Corinth! However, as our family concludes our ministry at ECBC in two weeks, I share with the thankful attitude of the Apostle Paul and give thanks to God for the community at ECBC. Particularly I want to give thanks to God for all the prayers, encouragement and practical support that so many among our church have given to our family.

As we feel excitement for the new ministry God has for our family at Swansea Baptist Church, we also feel the sadness of leaving this community that has been such a blessing to us over many years. Despite the Apostle Paul’s thankfulness for the church, he was most thankful for the good news of the crucified and risen Lord Jesus.

As I say thank you to you the people of EBC today, I remind you to constantly keep before you what matters most in all areas of life and church – ‘God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God’ Ephesians 2:8

Thank you Jesus for your amazing grace!
Thank you ECBC for your love and friendship!
Blessings,
Matthew, Samantha, Rebekah, Rachel, Rianna and Reeghan

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As human beings we have an enormous capacity to do so much to alleviate some of the things in the world that cause us pain however death is not one of them. We might not like talking, thinking or reading about it but the reality is that we cannot escape it.

We can sugar coat death, we can wrap people in memories but the truth is death is inevitable. Death is the predictable end of human life.

What on earth do we do with death?

Well, God has given us Easter Sunday. This is the day that you and I are reminded that our Saviour, Jesus Christ has taken it upon himself to defeat death, to put it in its rightful place and reconcile all of us to our Heavenly Father. This is resurrection Sunday.

Christians believe the good news that in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, God has done something decisive about death. All of our human attempts to avoid it or defeat it are woefully inadequate, but God’s work is grand in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Come today and join the celebration of Christ’s victory over death.

Come and rejoice in the eternal life that is now available to all who believe in the Son of God who was sent o this earth for that very reason – to die that we might live.

Hallelujah, Christ is risen. He is risen indeed.

Pastor Vince.

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Of course, we would all respond with “We will Lord” and yet it often seems like we aren’t quite ready, our hearts may not be prepared. We want to squirm, evade, avoid. Our souls are not yet perfect, so perhaps we are not ready for God to love us?

What an extraordinary thought – “I am not ready for God to love me.” What must I/we do to prepare ourselves for God to love us?

Well, we know that nothing we do will make God love us more than He loves us right now, yet this season of Lent beckons us to that deeper relationship with God the Redeemer.

How will you be “preparing your soul” for the Easter celebration? Or will it be just another Good Friday / Easter Sunday that comes and goes? What will be different about this one for you?

Lent is traditionally a time of fasting; of letting go of the things that take our attention away from God; a time where we might draw aside in a more
deliberate manner to pray, meditate on the Word of God, to think of others who are less fortunate than we might be.

So the question then becomes – What will I “give up” in order to be drawn into that deeper relationship with God? Will it be time; food; an activity perhaps?

Whatever it is that you choose, do it with gladness in your heart in response to what God gave up for you – His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Pastor Vince.

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We all have been around long enough to know that words both hurt and heal, however have you ever wondered how our words or more precisely – our Christian jargon – might impact or impede the Great Commission?

Recently I read an article about this very subject – how our vocabulary reveals our beliefs and it seems that Christians have, over time, moved away from words like “lost”; “unsaved”; to more palatable words like
“unchurched” or “unreached” and, so the article went on to say, this is why churches in the 21st century are in decline.

While there is obviously a lot more that could be said about this topic than this space might allow, it did cause me to stop and think about how words such as lost, unsaved or unchurched might actually sound to those
we seek to reveal the Kingdom of God.

Is the goal of the Great Commission in Matthew 28:16-20 to make “unchurched” people “churched or is it to make fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ – in other words DISCIPLES?

If the goal is the latter then perhaps we need to choose our words carefully or is it more about the quality of the relationships we build as we connect with people and the words come much later?

Wasn’t it St. Francis of Assisi who said “Preach the Gospel and if necessary use words”?

Pastor Vince.

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However, the idea of “winding down” for those who believe in Jesus Christ might seem a bit foreign because it seems to me that you and I actually “pick up the pace” of our faith as we prepare for the birth of our Saviour.

You certainly don’t need me to tell you that shopping centres began preparing in October – some stores had tinsel, wrapping paper and cards on display – almost as if they all wanted to be first for your dollars.

The Lord, our God also had His own way of preparing the world for the birth of His Son. The nation of Israel were given the prophets to prepare them for the coming of the Messiah yet somehow the message wasn’t received by all people. Then there was some 400 years between the prophet Malachi and the birth of Jesus and still God needed to  send John the Baptist to prepare the way – and again, some heeded the message while others didn’t.

Am I “preaching to the converted” as the saying goes? Of course if I am then I can safely assume that the razzle dazzle of December hasn’t grabbed hold of you.

Or, perhaps there might be some more preparation to be done for each of us?

How do you approach this time of the year? Do you long to be able to wind down or do you pick up the pace of our faith?

Let me encourage you to reflect on the words found in Mark 1:1-4 as you and I prepare the way for the Lord.

Pastor Vince.

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This poses a problem in some ways because the image of trees and fruit is one that Jesus used on several occasions – in Matt 12:33 “A tree (read person) is recognised by its fruit”; and John 15:8 Jesus also said “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

As well as these passages the Psalmist wrote about the happiness experienced by a person when they delight themselves in the law of the Lord. Ps 1:3 tells us this person “is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever they do prospers.”

A fledgling gardener will buy and plant trees with tags on them to tell them what type of flower or fruit it will produce. They also use them to enable easy identification as to what species they belong. However, once the trees begin to bear fruit the tags are no longer necessary because they are known by the fruit that is produced.

So it is with our own lives as we seek to follow the Word of God and the example of Jesus Christ. Those around us know what type of person we are because of the fruit we produce each day. The thing is though, we are not seasonal, we are called to bear fruit daily.

We also need to be reminded that just like trees in the garden we need to be connected to the right source of nutrients; we need to be pruned and disciplined to be fruiƞul and the reason for this is because it is God’s purpose for His children to be fruitful.

Therefore the question I put to you for reflection as we begin a new month and move closer to a new year is this…. “What kind of fruit is on your tree?”

Remember – Stay focused; Stay in fellowship and Stay fresh.

Pastor Vince.

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However, there is also another aspect of community that for me sets the foundation for our groups and for our life together as the Body of Christ and that is Relationship. The fact of the matter is that you and I can never “not” be in relationship, we are always relating in some way to someone at sometime.

In the coming weeks we will be exploring God’s Word as we look together at Godly Relationships and what it means to get the foundation right because without a proper understanding of what is involved in developing and growing Godly Relationships we may be doing more harm than good.

Perhaps you might like to look through and Pray about the “one-another” passages found in the New Testament and ask yourself the question – “How can I develop this skill of “one-anothering” in my group and within the Church?”

Let me give you a starting point – Paul talks in Romans 9:10 about being “devoted to one another in brotherly love”. How well are you doing in this area?

Happy searching.
Pastor Vince

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Second, have you noticed that property developers seem to be the group who try to capitalise on that word? They build Retirement Communities as well as “gated” communities where they offer a life of peace and tranquillity with folks of like mind and in communities where your children can grow up with life-long friends and neighbours. It’s almost like they are offering an escape from the ills of the world.

The fact is though that within true community there is security. It can be a place of acceptance, friendship and learning. It can be a place of growth where one can develop a trust that your neighbour really will be there for you when you perhaps need them the most.

Within Church life – we have these small communities within the larger community, we call them Home Groups.
They function in many different ways from deep Bible Study, to fellowship, reflection and yes, even accountability. It is in these groups that faith can grow – the thing is though – you need to belong to one to
experience community. Why? Because there simply isn’t enough time on a Sunday morning to experience true community.

Some folks find their way to Church for that very reason – to find and experience a caring community. Is there someone you know who would benefit from belonging to a caring group? Perhaps it is you?

Why not speak to the Home Group Co-Ordinator this morning?

Oh, before I forget – HAPPY FATHERS DAY TO ALL DAD’S, GRANDAD’S & GREAT-GRANDAD’S HERE TODAY.

Pastor Vince

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That got me thinking about when the work is completed. How long would it be before the view returned to “business as usual”? How long would it take to conform into just driving along a four lane carriageway and not notice anything
different?

This then took me to Paul’s letter to the Roman believers – Romans 12:2 – “Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

Do you believe that your mind can be transformed or do you think that what you have now is what you’ll go out with?
To me, this passage from Paul has a number of applications – spiritual, physical, mental, emotional; relational and yes, even our Body life as we gather each week. Simply coming together week after week can put us into the “same old, same old” and the view never changes, we do what we have always done.

One thing that I do know about the human brain is that it needs new experiences to remain active and healthy otherwise nothing ever really changes.

So it is with the aspects mentioned above, for us to be renewed in each of these areas of Body life we need to have new experiences; we need to do things differently – only then, through these new experiences – will we be
transformed.

I asked some weeks back what were the things in the life of ECBC that might need to be revisited and in a way the questions are still there to be answered.

The other question that arises now though is relating to our life together each week – do we believe that what we have
now is what we will go out with or is the Holy Spirit calling you to be something more as the Body of Christ?

When the “trees” are removed what do you see?

Are you a conformer or a transformer?

Pastor Vince

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Bill Hybels calls prayer – slowing down to be with God. It is more than simply drawing up our requests and praises and presenting them in an acceptable fashion to God. It is not simply to become aware of God’s answers to our dilemmas or thinking that God expects us to pray without ceasing so He can send us the revised editions of our lives.

For me, the purpose of prayer goes much deeper. Prayer is a way to maintain constant communion with God the Father, God the Son through God the Holy Spirit. It is a way of living out a more intense relationship that Jesus describes in John 15:5-8 where Jesus talks about the vine and the branches.

Prayer is our means of remaining attached to the vine that bears eternal fruit, it is a means of having access to God so that we can know Him in a much deeper and more intimate way. Of course, each one of us will have a preferred method and time of prayer and one is not better than another.

What matters in this world of conflicting voices is that we spend time with God in prayer in some form at some part of our day, whether that is when you walk in the freshness of the morning sun, or the peace of the lunch break or the quiet of the evening or even as you marvel at the beauty of creation.

God doesn’t mind at all when and how you pray, what He wants is for us to be in prayer and Brother Lawrence reminds us that it is really all about “Practicing The Presence of God.”

Pastor Vince

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