Some weeks ago we looked at the subject of discernment. In this sermon we revisit this gift and explore it further through real-life stories, biblical examples, and practical guidance for the life of the church. Discernment is a unique spiritual gift—one acknowledged by both cessationists and continuationists—perhaps because it sits at the very heart of hearing and obeying the Word of God.
While wisdom and prophecy are vital, they are not the same as discernment. Some of the things God calls us to may appear unwise on the surface, and Scripture reminds us to “test the spirits” (1 John 4:1). These realities point clearly to our need for discernment: the ability to recognise what truly is—or is not—the will of God.
When Discernment Is Needed
Two church stories helped illustrate this. One involved the difficult question of whether a church should remain open; the other asked whether two churches should close and allow a new church to be born. In both cases, the issue was not opinion, strategy, or common sense, but a single, defining question: What is God’s will?
Because of that, discernment could not be rushed or handled individually. It required:
• Community – everyone was involved in seeking God together
• Preparation – time set aside for prayer and fasting
• Clearing the ground – laying aside biases, cultural expectations, and personal preferences
• A “prayer of indifference” – a willingness to accept God’s answer, whatever it might be
Only once that central question was answered could the church move on to the “how.”
Discernment vs. Guidance
In the process of forming a new church, working groups explored issues such as a name and a statement of faith. This stage was not discernment but guidance—a sharing of ideas, perspectives, and opinions. Discernment came later, when the community gathered again, prayed, fasted, and asked whether these proposals truly reflected God’s will.
In both major decisions, God gave a clear and confirming “yes.”
Discernment in Scripture
Scripture shows the same patterns at work. In 2 Samuel 16, David refuses to act on cultural instinct or human advice during Absalom’s rebellion. Instead of reacting, he waits to discern what God is wanting him to do. By contrast, Absalom assumes that wise-sounding counsel must be God’s will—and the result is disaster.
In Acts 21, Paul hears repeated prophecies warning him about his journey to Jerusalem. Rather than rejecting them, he discerns their true purpose: not instructions to stop, but warnings to prepare him for what he already knows God has called him to do. Discernment allows Paul to honour the prophetic voices without being led off course.
What We Learn About Discernment
From these stories and passages, several key principles emerge:
• Discernment is needed when we must decide whether a specific action is God’s will, whether we are indeed recognizing Gods voice.
• It is practiced in community, not in isolation
• It requires intentional preparation, perhaps through prayer and fasting, in order to clear out the noise and be able to hear God’d voice
• God is gracious and faithful to confirm His will in different ways.Even when we are unsure, we can trust God to guide, correct, and reassure us
Ultimately, the gift of discernment helps us listen more carefully, act more faithfully, and walk more confidently in obedience to God—especially in moments of uncertainty, transition, and new beginnings.
When we think about the Christmas story, familiar figures quickly come to mind: shepherds, wise men, angels, Mary and Joseph. Yet one vital participant is often overlooked—the Holy Spirit. This sermon invites us to rediscover His central role in the events leading to Jesus’ birth and to reflect on how God’s creative work continues today.
Luke, the Gentile doctor and careful historian, tells us that he set out to write an accurate account of the events “fulfilled” in the life of Jesus (Luke 1:1–4). While we compress the Christmas story into a few festive weeks each December, the reality is far more complex and costly. The events unfolded over many months, in a world marked by political oppression, economic hardship, and deep uncertainty.
To appreciate the Spirit’s work, we rewind not to December, but to “April”—nine months before Jesus’ birth. In the small, insignificant village of Nazareth, the Holy Spirit enters history in a dramatic and unsettling way.
A Disruptive Announcement
Mary, likely no more than 12–14 years old, was betrothed to Joseph in a binding family contract. While this arrangement was normal in her culture, everything else about that day was not. The angel Gabriel—acting under divine direction—appeared to her with astonishing news: she would conceive a child by the Holy Spirit.
For Mary, this “favor” came at immense personal cost. Pregnancy outside of marriage threatened her future, her reputation, and even her life. Confused and disturbed, she questioned how this could happen—she was a virgin. Gabriel’s answer was simple yet staggering: the Holy Spirit would “come upon” her.
This moment echoes the very beginning of Scripture. Just as the Spirit hovered over the chaos at creation (Genesis 1:2), He now hovered over Mary, bringing new life where it seemed impossible. The incarnation itself—the Word becoming flesh—was the climax of the Spirit’s creative work through history.
Confirmation, Joy, and Cost
The Holy Spirit did not leave Mary alone with this impossible calling. Soon after, she visited her cousin Elizabeth, whose own miraculous pregnancy had already begun. When Mary arrived, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, the baby in her womb leapt, and she spoke prophetic words that confirmed Mary’s calling.
In response, Mary erupted in praise—the Magnificat—overflowing with joy and worship, even though she knew suffering lay ahead. The Spirit’s work did not remove pain, misunderstanding, or hardship, but He brought assurance, guidance, and deep joy beneath the surface.
In the months and years that followed, the Holy Spirit continued to protect and guide this fragile family—leading them to safety in Egypt and confirming God’s purposes through voices like Simeon and Anna.
What This Means for Us
The lesson is clear: the Holy Spirit is not a background figure in God’s story. He is the ongoing, active agent of God’s creative and redemptive work. He still comes into lives—personal, communal, and even national—to accomplish what seems impossible.
Like Mary, we are invited to trust. God’s favor does not always look comfortable or safe, but it is never without His presence. Beneath the struggle, the Holy Spirit brings reassurance, protection, and joy beyond imagination.
The “forgotten participant” is, in truth, indispensable—and He is still at work today.
I have decided to conduct an experiment and publish summaries of my Sunday sermons in my blog. Please do comment and let me know if you find it interesting and or helpful and, of course, share with others if you think it will bless them.
This sermon is the sixth in a series on the Holy Spirit entitled “The Familiar Stranger” using Tyler Staton’s book of the same name as a framework.
Suffering is a universal part of being human. Every one of us will face pain in some form, and many struggle to understand how a loving Father fits into a world marked by so much hurt. While entire books explore the theology of suffering, this message focuses on one key question: How does the Holy Spirit work within our suffering to bring redemption?
The apostle Paul’s words in Romans 5:1–5 sound almost shocking — rejoicing in suffering. But Paul isn’t celebrating pain. He’s pointing to the mysterious way God takes the brokenness of a fallen world and uses it to form us into people who can live in His Kingdom even as we long for the fullness that is still to come.
Rather than leaning on platitudes, the message turns to real stories of people who faced deep suffering yet discovered God’s redemptive power through the Holy Spirit:
- Joni Eareckson Tada, paralyzed at 17, wrestled with despair and unanswered prayers for healing. Eventually, she prayed, “If you won’t heal me, teach me how to live.” Out of her suffering grew Joni and Friends, a global ministry advocating for people with disabilities.
- Katherine and Jay Wolfe walked through the trauma of Katherine’s massive stroke at age 26. What could have destroyed their family instead gave birth to Hope Heals—a ministry bringing hope, community, and dignity to the disabled and their caregivers.
- Jesus Himself shows the pattern: led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, facing rejection, and ultimately entering Gethsemane with anguish. He pleaded three times for another way, yet surrendered to the Father’s will. The resurrection is the ultimate picture of redemptive suffering.
The Holy Spirit doesn’t just redeem suffering on a cosmic scale — He does so personally. The message includes stories of deep personal loss: Sarah’s battle with cancer and Maggie’s tragic loss of her son. These devastating experiences, though still painful, have become part of a story of spiritual formation, hope, and shared healing.
A key truth emerges: redemption often happens in community. When suffering forces us to admit we cannot cope alone, we experience the love of others in transformative ways. The Spirit uses people, presence, and compassion to shape us through our pain.
The conclusion is clear and hope-filled: Suffering is still painful. It’s still wrong. But in the Kingdom of God, evil never gets the last word.
When we allow God into our pain, the Holy Spirit brings surprising, sometimes unimaginable redemption.
In God’s hands, suffering always counts.
I realize that it has been some while since I posted a blog, but I have not felt prompted to write, or maybe I have and I have taken no notice! If it is the latter, please forgive me! However, I wanted to write and share with you something that I shared with those who were with us at New Life Christian Fellowship on Sunday morning. We are currently in a series seeking to deepen our understanding and our day-to-day walk with the Holy Spirit. This series has been inspired by a book by Tyler Staton, “ The Familiar Stranger – re-introducing the Holy Spirit to those in search of an experiential spirituality.“ This is a book I strongly recommend as it addresses one of the most debilitating divisions that we experience in our churches today. Somehow, we have been persuaded that we have to choose between the “Holy Spirit Churches” and the Bible Churches. Tyler makes a powerful case for the equal importance of both and the danger of neglecting either in our personal or church lives.
A life deeply rooted in Scripture is absolutely essential for a healthy relationship to God, self, others, and the world at large. Equally essential, though, is a life deeply rooted in the Holy Spirit, who leads by experience and functions in partnership, not competition, with the explanatory Holy Bible.
A member of our church family made a suggestion that it would be helpful for us to set aside a day during the series for prayer and fasting. An opportunity to hear from the Holy Spirit as a community. We looked at the calendar and selected Saturday, November 29th.
On Sunday morning, however, I believe the Holy Spirit impressed on me that I should go further than simply setting aside a day. I should take my pastoral and leadership responsibility in the same way as the Kings of Israel did at times of great importance, and call everyone who calls New Life Christian Fellowship their church to take this day to pray and fast.
If you are part of the New Life Family, I am doing just that! We will begin the day in the sanctuary at 6:00 am with a time of prayer and worship together, which will last as long as we sense it should. The sanctuary will remain open for prayer until 6:00 pm, when we will break our fast together in the Fellowship Hall. There will be an opportunity to share the things we hear from the Spirit during that time. It is my prayer that there will be at least one person in the sanctuary for the whole of the day.
Now I realize that those of you reading this may not be members of our Church family, and so I have no responsibility to “call” you to anything. However, since I was prompted to write this, I want to suggest that you might find some time, maybe on November 29th, to pray and fast that The Holy Spirit might reveal new ways in which you can partner with Him to serve Him and your local communities at this time of so much need and confusion. I am excited for all of us all to hear from the Holy Spirit in fresh ways and so show the world what it means to be with Jesus, be like Jesus, and do what Jesus did!
I know I have not written for quite some time. This is, at least partly, because I don’t want to burden those kind enough to read my musings with anything that does not seem to have real importance (at least to me!!). I am writing today because I believe that at New Life we have just begun one of the most important preaching series since I became pastor some sixteen years ago. When COV!D -19 broke upon us and we were unable to meet together in church I was convinced at a very early stage that this was going to result in a profound and much-needed change in the church. This was not to cast any unnecessary aspersions on the past but to recognize what many have said: “What got you here will not get you where you are going.” Since that time many of my prayers have been focused on the request that the Father show us what that change was to look like and how we could join Him in bringing the change about.
I am certainly still on that prayerful path but I do believe that coming to a deeper and richer understanding of what it means to be an apprentice (disciple) of Jesus is foundational to us moving forward. In last Sunday’s sermon I shared this quote from Ronald Rolheiser which I think summarizes the challenge before us
We’ve always found it easiest to ignore the truth as long as we never stop moving. In the fall of humanity, we mastered the art of hurry. “And so we end up as good people, but as people who are not very deep: not bad, just busy; not immoral, just distracted; not lacking in soul, just preoccupied; not disdaining depth, just never doing the things to get us there,” Ronald Rolheiser.
When we read how Jesus invited a ramshackle group to follow him and think about how that invitation applies to us, do we really understand the journey that He invited them, and now us, to begin? In his book “Invitation to a Journey” Robert Mulholland says this:
I do not know what your perception of Christian discipleship might be, but much contemporary Christian spirituality tends to view the spiritual life as a static possession rather than a dynamic and ever-developing growth toward wholeness in the image of Christ.
Robert Mulholland
As we study this together ( and we have only just begun) we are seeing that Jesus’ invitation to follow is motivated by His unconditional love for us but as with all invitations we are free to decline. The invitation to follow is rooted in the remarkable Jewish education system. This link takes you to some brilliant teaching on what it meant to be a disciple in Jesus’s day. I encourage you to take the time to listen because it will open your eyes as it did mine to what it meant when we said yes to following Jesus.
However, this is a journey that will last a lifetime. How do we begin? When we have taken the first step of recognizing our sin (the decision to decide for ourselves what is right or wrong) and have accepted the forgiveness purchased for us by Jesus on the cross we must begin to be with Jesus and get to know him. Here is an exercise that you might try to begin the process of getting to know him
Think about your closest friend or spouse and ask yourself how did I get to know them. Try and detail the process as far as you are able and preferably write it down. Then ask how your life of walking with Jesus compares to this and what has helped/hindered you from getting to know Him. Come up with one thing you might do now to help get to know Him better. To make this stick share it with someone you trust and ask them to keep you accountable.
I am aware that I have not written for a long time and I honestly think there are many reasons for that, some I understand and others I don’t yet. One is the doubt that I can adequately put into words some of the things that are on my heart. The struggle to engage my own pain and heartache over all that has transpired, alongside the devastating effects on our church community, has at least been part of my reluctance to write.
Our church has just taken our traditional 21 days to pray and fast over the coming year. Our focus has been learning to lament, to confront pain and sorrow not in a casual way, moving on to the next thing as soon as possible, but by staying in the difficult places longer than is comfortable. This often allows God to show us things in the pain that we maybe have not seen before. Some of these may prompt us to repent or others may give us a new understanding of God’s call on us or love for us. One of the painful things God has shown us is where our relationships as a community have not been what we had hoped and our commitment to each other, more fragile than we knew. We are learning that the painful and difficult experiences that we skip past and put under the carpet, create unseen obstacles to commitment in community.
As I have pondered and lamented these realities and shared them with others, there has been growing conviction that God wants to take us deeper in our relationship with Him and each other; that God is asking us to engage with conflict and do the hard work of working through our difficulties as a family. We do this in the hope that we might find healing rather than division. This will, in turn, enable us to model this for the deeply divided community in which we have been planted.
Over recent months two things have been said to me multiple times in one form or another. They have stuck in my mind returning over and over to haunt me. One is “ I am getting all I need from…” and the other is “I don’t like… so I am not going to engage with it.” As I have pondered these approaches it has struck me how much they represent our culture’s intensely individualistic approach to our faith. In them, I see how they have significantly weakened our communities of faith. Is it only what “I need” as an individual that decides how I participate in the body of Christ? Might it not be this is simply a time when I need to give in order that the faith of others might be strengthened? If I don’t “like this” maybe I need to look at why, or possibly “this” is something I have learned in the past, and now is my chance to share and encourage others. rather than always expecting to receive.
The deepening and strengthening of our church community will only happen when each of us is deeply and passionately concerned with the welfare of each member; when our walk with Jesus together is as important as our personal walk with Him. Exactly how does this happen and what does a church look like that reflects these priorities? I don’t know but I am committed to seeking the Father’s face together and working with every other member of the church family to find out.
I know I have not written for some while and maybe what follows goes some way to explaining why. As Maggie has been working with her 6th grade students in preparation for returning to some form of in-person teaching, she has been encouraging them to write down their experiences of the past year to make sure they do not forget. As I sat in quiet this morning with my journal open I thought that maybe I should do the same. This is what resulted:
I remember that the initial shock of beginning “shelter in place” was in some ways exciting. We launched into new and previously unknown territory with problems to solve and strategies to develop. For our church, our previously limited online presence became the main event. We worked as a team praying, thinking and planning. We learned from our mistakes and were all engaged in the challenges of helping one another. How could we respond to the needs of our community and maintain some connectivity? We learned to do church in a different way and asked ourselves what is God doing, what can we learn? Personally I began to appreciate the focus that came with working at home. I really enjoyed being with Maggie everyday as she grappled with the challenges of online teaching.
Soon it became clear that the end of these strange times was not coming anytime soon. Phrases like “the new normal” appeared in articles and news bulletins along with “unprecedented.” and “unheard of!” At the same time as the appearance of this new language, cracks began to become evident in relationships. The inability to see each other face to face allowed those cracks to widen as differences of opinion and ideas emerged. Echo chambers formed as we found ways to talk with people that agreed with us and avoid those with whom we differed.
Little did we know that just ahead of us were two events that would again make significant changes to our cultural and social landscape. On May 25th the news of the tragic killing of George Floyd flooded the news outlets. Over the next weeks this brought to the surface fresh and necessary attention to the racism that infects our nation. However, rather than causing us to come together in the face of injustice it simply provided another forum for differences in life experiences, let alone opinions and perspectives. The cracks multiplied and became wider as the rhetoric in social media became louder and more combative.Then of course on the horizon, approaching rapidly, was the perfect storm of an election in a nation already as politically divided as at any time in recent history
As the year progressed, divisions and isolation increased. Along with them, some underlying questions seemed to become more and more prevalent “What about me?” Why is nobody listening to me?” We continued to search for people who think like us, so we can feel safe. But all the time culture and community became more and more divided, and as a consequence significantly more unsafe for everyone!
Now, as we approach the prospect of a much wider re-opening, we must face a new challenge. How will we deal with the bridges that have been broken and the cracks that have become so wide? Will we, like Adam and Eve at the dawn of creation, look around for someone to blame and hence simply reinforce the brokenness we are all experiencing.
Oh the other hand could we take a different and admittedly more difficult approach. Could we grasp humility in both hands, emerge from our echo chambers, and take the initiative to say sorry for the part we have played in divisions. Might we, in turn, forgive those who we believe have wronged and hurt us. As a consequence could we participate in the active healing of our community?
I know for me right now, I am tired and discouraged. I am struggling to find the excitement and anticipation of planning again for what will be new. I am realizing that soon I will be at home alone without Maggie in the other room (except of course I will have Maisey, our four month old boxer puppy!) I am recognizing the relationships with many that I valued and love are deeply changed. Can I find the energy to think, write, inspire and anticipate all that God is going to do?
I believe the answer, for me at least, is yes. I know that God is still on the throne, He still has a plan and He is still working it out. I believe that although it will be extraordinarily difficult at times, if I can humble myself, we can do this together. We can learn to love each other, while listening to and seeking to understand our differences. If we accept this challenge when the next crisis occurs, and it will, we will be better equipped and stronger to face it together and show the world what it really means to follow Jesus.
Today is my 14th Wedding anniversary so I trust you will permit me a rather personal post. I am incredibly grateful to have been married to this lady for the past fourteen years and to hope for many more. She has truly revealed to me what the scripture means when it says “more than you could ask or imagine”
I expressed a little of this in a Facebook post this morning but here is where my joy is tinged with sadness. She will not see that post (unless I show it to her). Why? Because she has closed her Facebook account . Like so many others, the inability of so many to resist the temptation to post angry and divisive material has caused her to conclude that it is mentally healthier for her to close her account.
That choice is hers and hers alone of course, but it make me sad that Maggie, and so many like her, are prevented from enjoying the positive aspects of Facebook and the like by those who seem unable to refrain from anger and meanness.
This makes me wonder, has anyone ever had their mind changed by a Facebook post? Has any one “seen the light” because a post revealed to them how wrong they were? Maybe a very few but my observation indicates that the responses to such posts take two forms. First there are the admiring affirmations and then the equally angry arguments. So why post at all? Was it just to bask in the warmth of people agreeing with you? I have even seen people include in their post “if you disagree with me feel free to unfriend me” or even “ please unfriend me” so I guess that post was made for the soft cushion of affirmation alone. If, however, the purpose was to invite the angry arguments that so often ensue, I am even more mystified.
I recently learned of a similar app that has become a home for those who want to express with passion, opinions representing one side of the aisle. I can but hope that a similar site will be created so those wishing to share similarly passionate views from the other side of the aisle can do so. Then both groups can have their needs met on these sites leaving Facebook for the rest of us to celebrate, communicate and encourage one another, enjoying the blessing that social media can provide us.
It’s the morning after election day and, at the time of writing, we still have no idea who will live in the White House for the next four years. A number of things have however become very clear. Firstly, whoever ends up winning will preside over a nation so deeply and toxically divided that one wonders if healing is even possible. Secondly, around fifty percent of the nation will find themselves with a government that they have already condemned in the strongest terms. Every election results in one group of people being deeply disappointed and finding themselves wondering how we can survive the next four years. How will they tolerate being governed by people who have such different ideas about how to solve the nation’s problems? But this time it seems different, the condemnation that has been poured out by each side on each other has included, in many instances, writing people off as morally reprehensible.
I was reading in Jeremiah this morning an incident that occurred when Isreal was taken into exile in Babylon. Representatives of the leaders left in Jerusalem came and asked the prophet to seek God for direction at what they should do next. (Jeremiah 42:5-6) The leaders commit themselves to act on God’s instructions said “whether pleasant or unpleasant.” After ten days the prophet comes back with God’s message (Jeremiah 42:9-12). He tells them to go and settle among the pagan and Godless people of Babylon. This answer was, of course, morally repugnant. Their choice, trust God and His word through the prophet despite the nature of the guidance, or decide that they knew better and ignore what God had said. Sadly (Jeremiah 43:2) they chose the latter and it did not work out well for them.
When the counts, recounts and legal battles are over, it seems to me that one half of our nation will be presented with a very similar dilemma. Someone, who they have judged, not simply wrong, but as morally indefensible will have been elected to form a government for the next four years. The choice they have, either accept that God is still on the throne and the people have spoken. Their task must now be to commit to pray for the incoming government. The alternative is to conclude that God is no longer in control, his plan has failed and He has made a dreadful mistake.
Whichever choice you make if you are a follower of Jesus, you find yourself with another dilemma. You are surrounded by people that you don’t just believe are wrong but whom you have publicly judged to be bad people with motives that belong in the gutter. I confess I struggle to understand how in our churches and small groups we are going to be able to repair and forgive those judgments and avoid retreating to enclaves of people who simply agree with each other. How then will we be able to fulfill Jesus’s command that we be united and known for our love for each other?
I don’t suppose many pastors could say that one of the first sermons they preached was on the prophecy of Haggai. However, I can! I do not remember what prompted the sermon but it was certainly before I became a pastor and so must have been when I was invited to speak on behalf of one of the organizations I worked for before going to seminary. As a consequence, I have always valued this short book whose two chapters only take up two pages of my Bible.
Recently I was reminded of the book and as I turned its pages, once again it struck me that it had some important things to say to us today. Haggai speaks into the life of Israel after the exile and the collapse of the Babylonian empire. The people are just returning to the land. The Bible Project video summarizes the prophet’s message in four parts. First, he asks the people to consider whether it is right that they should give priority to refurbishing their own houses rather than rebuilding the temple. When the people take this criticism to heart, they can’t help but feel that their work on the temple is a poor shadow of its former beauty. The final two parts exhort the people to remember the covenant and be faithful. Lastly, the prophet articulates a vision for God’s eternal kingdom.
It is the first two parts that piqued my imagination. Of course, the church has not been sent into exile, but COVID 19 has interrupted our customary lives in such a way that it feels a little like it. As I listen to conversations about the future, a recurrent theme is the re-creation of what we had. I fear that is strangely parallel to Haggai 1:2-4. We are saying, “how can we rebuild what we enjoyed, the way things were before?” Could it be that God wants to ask why we are so preoccupied with rebuilding what we were comfortable with when His plans for the church have barely progressed beyond a building site? ( not quite ruins but close!) ” What if your inherited imagination of what the church should be is dying while the Spirit is stirring something new” Tim Soerens “ Everywhere you Look- -Discovering the Church Right Where You Are”
When the people turn their focus on the temple they soon get discouraged that their efforts at restoration to its former glory are a dismal failure. God, however, responds with the most glorious and exciting words of encouragement.
“For this is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: In just a little while I will again shake the heavens and the earth, the oceans and the dry land. I will shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will be brought to this Temple. I will fill this place with glory, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. And in this place I will bring peace. I, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!” Haggai 2:6-9
God says, I am not leading you back to what was, I am leading you forward to what will be . He does not say the past had “no glory”, but His plans for the future are for “greater glory.”
So let’s remember that we serve a God who wants us to follow Him to eternity. The way He wants the church to look “next” may be different than the past and some ways may not seem as “good” to us as we enjoyed in the past. However, His ways are not our ways and He calls us to be faithful, trusting Him for the glorious eternity He has planned for us. So let’s reach together for His plans because He promises “to fill this place with glory”!
From the Zebra Bag 