Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:04 Time. But I want to take you to one of my favorite Psalms, Psalm 46. And it says these words, this is not written by David, by the way. This is written from the descendants of Cora. Cora was, um, probably a cousin of Moses's. Uh, this was his descendants that had developed very musically and they had high voices, um, sort of sung in soprano. This song was So No Low Voices here. And the other reason I like Cora is that, um, it, it also means boldness, which I thought was quite an appropriate maybe, maybe I've got some lineage there somewhere. But straight into, straight into the, um, open inverses. And it says this, God is our refuge and our strength. He's always ready to help in times of trouble. Just pause there for a moment because it makes an assumption that there will be times of trouble. It's not on the chances that this might happen. The realities are that we all walk through in our life times of trouble. This is a troubled world. World. We have troubled lives within this troubled world. And there is a, there is a bit of a, what I would say, a dodgy theology that alludes to Christians knowing such a sense of God over their life, that they never experienced troubles in this world.
Speaker 1 00:01:48 And that's not what the Bible says. What the Bible does teach us is that in our troubles, in our trials, in our difficulties, that we have a refuge and a strength that's ever present. So if you are feeling like a second class citizen in the church, because you are going through some stuff right now, and maybe you've come from a theological part of the church that says your stuff is because there's sin in your life or because there's some disobedience in your life or because the enemy is having his way in your life, I want you to know none of those things are true. The realities are that we have stuff that happens in our life, but the promise is this, that we have a refuge and a shelter in times of trouble. And boy, these are trouble days. We're in trouble times. We have some of the most challenging set of circumstances in some of our lifetimes. We've got serious wars taking place. We've got our news channels filled with the talk of an economy that worldwide is struggling.
Speaker 1 00:03:12 There's all the implications of those things. And we see energy prices double in tripling. We see inflation rising beyond incomes. We see so many difficult things. We see confidence in our politicians at the lowest ebb in our lifetime. In fact, trust for any organization of leadership is at our lowest ebb because integrity has gone, integrity has been questioned and been found wanting. We live in a society that unless it regulates things, the hearts of people get revealed as what the Bible says, as desperately wicked and deceitful. Above all things we're in trouble days, trouble times. But God is our refuge and our strength, and he is our ever present, always ready to help in times of trouble. The famous judge, leader Luther, it was said of him that when he was in great distress, he would call for this psalm saying, let's sing the 46th Psalm in concert together and then let the devil do his worst. He had such confidence in the God of this psalm. He had such confidence in the one that this song is about, that the enemy could do his worst and still he would know that God is my refuge and my
Speaker 0 00:04:54 Strength.
Speaker 1 00:04:57 We, since the pandemic, have probably done a lot more walking. For example, I used to pay a lot of money to park my car in the week when I was in the office, but we decided we only live 30 minutes walk away. So let's walk in back and forth to the church most days. And that's what we do. It's a lovely idea in the summer, isn't it? And now we're into the heights of winter and the rain is lashing down, the wind is blowing and there's puddles everywhere. But I've decided that there are a few things that are appropriate for me to wear. First of all, I wear a baseball cap, not to get down with a youth, but simply because the peak of it protects the my glasses from the rain. And it's really helpful to not have to keep wiping your glasses every few footsteps.
Speaker 1 00:05:42 I wear a, a waterproof coat. The waterproof coat is really helpful. It helps keep my clothes dry underneath. It helps keep me warm. It protects me and it guards me from the elements. I wear waterproof shoes so that I'm not walking with soggy feet all day. I, I have an umbrella just in case the other things struggle a little bit. And you know, I I'm ready. I I'm ready for this stuff. You know, I grew up in Wales. I I know what rain is all about. If I, you know that scripture that says the sun shines on the right, on the unrighteous what? In Wales we've changed it. We say the rain rains on the righteous, on the unrighteous. I know what rain's all about. And, and there I am. I'm fully prepared and I'm, I'm shielded, I'm protected. I've got a refuge. I'm walking round with a refuge. I'm facing the storm. The wind's there, the rain's there. I'm in the middle of the storm, but it's not getting made. And then I see some young people walking through with shores and t-shirt ripping where, and I, I'm reminded that a refuge is a place that you have to go to.
Speaker 0 00:06:56 You
Speaker 1 00:06:56 Have to find it. You have to go and accept the terms of the refuge. You have to go and say, I'm choosing right now to go to the refuge. I'm choosing to go to the safe place. I'm choosing to put my coat on. I'm choosing to use my umbrella. I'm choosing to protect myself by accepting not my strength, but that God is my refuge and my strength. You see, this song goes on to say in verse two, so we will not fear when earthquakes come. We're seeing all sorts of climate related things happen across the world.
Speaker 1 00:07:50 We're called to be good stewards of the world. We're called not to have a sort of a theology that says, well, the Bible says the earth is wearing out like a filthy, like a rag. Doesn't say filthy rag. The earth is wearing out like a rag. So therefore let's just abuse it anywhere we can. We're still stewards of it, aren't we? And the earth is wearing out, but we're still called to do our best to look after it. That's not the purpose of what I'm saying this morning. But we are surrounded by news about our ecological systems collapsing. The Bible says that in the last days there will be wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes in increasing frequency. These things will happen. They are happening. But the psalmist says, we will not fear when earthquakes come. I remember a night when I lived in Birmingham. We were living in the old in in the black country of Birmingham just on the edges of Birmingham. And, and I remember in the middle of the night just feeling like I was dreaming something because the room was shaken and the bed was shaken. And I remember thinking, oh, what was all that about? Must be a horrible dream. And I went back to sleep. And then the following morning, all the local news was that there'd been a, I think it was like a four point something on the Richter scale earthquake that had happened. And I was so rested that it did not concern me.
Speaker 1 00:09:25 Says here. So we will not fear when earthquakes come. If you've ever been in a serious earthquake, you've seen the Hollywood films, you've seen how awful they are and how can someone go through that and not fear? Well, when they know that the Lord is their refuge and their strength, let the oceans roar and foam let the mountains tremble as the water surge. But we will not fear. This is a, this is a time of testing the saints. This is a time for us to decide as the people of God where there are trust is in the Lord and his kingdom or the things of this world. This is the reality of where we're at right now. One of the scripture says some trust in chariots, some trust in horses. But we put our trust in the name of the Lord. Church, this is a time to put your confidence and your trust in the name of the Lord. If you don't put your confidence in the Lord, if you don't find your shelter and your refuge in him, then it's no good saying, well, I gave my life to Jesus at a Billy Graham crusade 20 years ago. I should be okay walking through this. No, because it's about your trust in him.
Speaker 1 00:10:52 It's about you choosing to go into his presence and defined refuge where he is the Lord is my refuge, the Lord is my strength in him? Will I trust we've got some major adventures ahead as a church. There's no way that a hundred churches are gonna be planted outta convenience. There's no way it's gonna happen. Just by us having the excesses of our life that we can give into them, it's gonna take sacrifice, it's gonna take choice, it's gonna take trust. We've been so blessed with the way the Lord has provided in New Nat, you know that building and the work so far, we've been able to do it all, paying all the bills. We would love to send new Nat into this next phase with some investment from us. I'd love about 40,000 pound to dramatic. I'd love about 40,000 pound to invest into that church plant. And that's gonna not happen just from convenience. That's gonna happen by sacrifice. And it's not the amount that we give, it's the hearts that we give. And I believe that there are going to be in the years ahead some real fasten the seatbelt moments as Phil and mentioned for us to step into the adventures of God. Why I,
Speaker 1 00:12:33 Because there are 3.4 billion people on the earth that are still yet to hear the gospel of Jesus. And we haven't been placed here to have nice services either in Exeter new dab or wherever the other judges will be. We've been called to bring good news. And if we are awaken in our boots, if we are hiding under the table saying there's an earthquake coming, there's a recession happening, there are difficulties in our world. If we are hiding, then there'll be no one for the adventure. And right now God is not just saying, will you trust me to survive this season? But will you trust me in order to invest into the season of what God's got for us? Let's invest in our time, our energies, our prayers, our relationships, our finances. It's investing all of us into what God's doing. And unless this song is our song, we won't do it.
Speaker 1 00:13:39 The Lord is my refuge. The Lord is my strength. Some trust in chariots, some trust in horses, but we put our trust in the name of the Lord. And I tell you, with God's help, he can take the five loaves and the two fish in your hand and he can multiply them for his glory. With God's help, he can take you from a place of, of surviving to a place of thriving in the things of God. You can get to eternity and you can't take your houses. We can't take our cars, we can't take our finances. We take the things of this world, but we can stand in eternity and be surrounded by the legacy of those that we've invested in and given our lives to those we've released, those that we've trusted in with the gospel of Jesus Christ and sent out, we can see that. So the world says, hold on tight. It's a difficult time ahead. The Kingdom says the fields are white to harvest. The opportunities are enormous, but the laborers are few. And I wonder whether we can declare with the writer of this song, God is our refuge and strength. He's our ever present help even in these days of trouble.
Speaker 1 00:15:11 I pray this week that as we gather for prepare Him room Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 10:00 AM till 10:00 PM whatever you can dip into whatever you can be a part of, whatever you can join in with to come and spend time in the refuge of God, spend time in his safety and pressors. I, I tell you, he'll speak with you cuz he's longing for that space. He's longing for that. Trust God. You're our refuge and our strength. Could we stand together?
Speaker 0 00:15:49 This
Speaker 1 00:15:50 Scripture? Can we put it on the screen? God is our refuge and strength. Can we say this together? God is our refuge and strength always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the scene. Amen.
Speaker 0 00:16:16 Would
Speaker 1 00:16:16 You close your eyes, bow your heads and everything of dissidents between that expression and your feelings right now? Just come humbly before the Lord and say, Lord, I feel so weak. I just, I don't feel like I'm taught my feelings into this. Just be honest with the Lord. He loves that honesty. And then hear him say these words back to you. It's not about you, it's about me. The question is not whether you feel strong enough, good enough, clever enough, talented enough, experienced enough, rich enough. That's not the question. The question is, is God able? Is he strong? Is he powerful? Does he have all the resources? If the answer to those questions are yes, then you can find refuge in
Speaker 0 00:17:23 Him
Speaker 1 00:17:25 Just before we sing this final song of razor, hallelujah in the midst of the storm, and let the sound of God's people lift their voices in declaration that even in the middle of the reign we are gonna declare hallelujah. Praise God. But just before we sing it, if you are in this room or online and you've not accepted Jesus as your Lord, savior, redeemer, forgiver friend, then I want to give you an opportunity to come to him. And I'm gonna ask you to pray a prayer. It's a prayer that acknowledges you need him, that you've messed up, and that Jesus gave his life on the cross to pay for your mess. And it's an invitation for him to come and to take the wheel of your life and to leave you into your future. So if you wanna pray that prayer, here it goes. Pray it quietly in your mind or heart after me, and it goes like this, Jesus, I thank you that you love me, you love me so much that you gave your life on the cross for me. I've left you out. I've done my own thing, I've gone my own way, and I'm sorry for the mess that I've made. Please forgive me
Speaker 1 00:18:41 And I receive your forgiveness this day. I ask that you will make me like a new person, a new start, and I invite you to come and lead my life that I might follow you all the days of my life in Jesus'
Speaker 0 00:18:57 Name.
Speaker 1 00:19:00 If you pray that prayer this morning, would you just raise your hand? Just let me know you pray that prayer. Thank you madame. Anyone else? Anyone else? Thank you at the back over there. Amen. Anyone else this morning, join these two people. Thank you. Hallelujah. Thank you Jesus. Father God, we thank you for new life and we pray that each of these people will know the realities of God be in their strength and their portion, that they will know that they are loved and treasured by the most high God that they're invited not into religion, but into relationship. Holy Spirit, fill them now. We pray. Fill them that they might know your truth and they might set them free. In Jesus' name, amen.
