Crestwood Church Blog

Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future your children will ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’ Joshua 4:21

One of the first things Joshua did when he set foot into the Promised Land was to build a memorial, made of 12 large stones.

I guess most of us have been to or least seen some of the monuments scattered all over Britain, the most famous one is “Stonehenge”. Many historians have their own view on what its purpose was, some say a Space Observatory, others a place of worship or a burial place, but whatever the truth the world has been fascinated by them ever since. Maybe it is the mystery that intrigues people or the sheer size and ingenuity of the structure.

The big difference with Joshua’s stones, apart from the scale and location was that the Israelites knew exactly what these stones were for. They were a reminder to the faithfulness and power of God in rescuing the Children of Israel from the Egyptians, by making a dry path through the Red Sea. Every time the Israelites went past these stones in the plains of Gilgal they were reminded of the magnificence and greatness of God. It was also a point of reference to the enemies of Israel; this people are under the protection of God,

beware.!

The children when they passed by, with their inquisitive minds, would ask, “what are these stones for?” and quickly they would be reminded of the awesome things that God did.
Later on in the history of Israel, Psalms were written, some of these psalms were written to record the history of Israel’s protection under God.

2000 years on, the standing stones have gone, you can walk through Gilgal and see not even a trace of stones. And yet the truths about God are passed on, from generation to generation.

The bible is the like a preserved standing stone, standing tall and strong for all time. It tells us of the victories not only of the Israelites, but over sin, death, hell and Satan. Every day it reminds us of the unlimited, unexplainable, unbeatable God that we serve and worship. The church itself stands as a testimony to the grace and mercy of God. That's why we want to keep planting churches.

Just consider, who the church is? its you, its me, and therefore you are a living testimony of the wonder of God. Stand tall, and when people ask, what are you there for, tell them about the Lord Jesus who died to save you.

Labels: God's Word, Reminder, Stones

Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense. 1 Cor 1:25

In the days when the Apostle Paul was writing this letter to the Corinthian Christians, the Greeks were proud of their highly educated and philosophical thinkers. Paul himself was a trained orator (he was before his conversion a leading Pharisee) and was able to hold his own among the learned. The world was stunned by the message of the early church, which preached about a man who died on a cross and has risen again and can change us forever.
The philosophers had their own answers to the worlds problems and how could it be possible for a man who died on a CROSS to change the world. The cross was for criminals, foreigners, scum, even the Romans thought long and hard about crucifying their own. For the Jews the cross meant you were cursed by God.
These Greeks were professional speakers, they used every method of communication known to man, but their wisdom was still empty compared to that of God.
But God has used the cross as foolish (as it might appear )to shame the world’s greatest thinkers. All the worlds best minds can never free mankind from sin. The scholars may have stood and through rhetoric and other clever ways convinced the masses that gathered to hear their own message, but in the end their clever words led to nothing.
God used ordinary people with little education to declare his message, they on the whole were not trained, they didn’t stand and woo the crowds with clever methods, they just preached, Jesus crucified.
It wasn’t the way they preached that led many to trust Christ it wasn’t the personalities of Peter, Paul or Philip. It was the simplicity and accuracy of the message that when it went out to the people it went out with authority and power because it was the message of God and not of man. Paul himself changed his style from a public system of speaking to a bold message of proclamation which instead of amazing people by his clever style, convinced people of truth.
Today we compared to the wisdom of the world seem like fools, but our message of the cross, leads to divine revelation and understanding. Don’t give up, keep proclaiming and shouting it out.

Labels: Clever, foolish, Wisdom

“O our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name! But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us! 1 Chronicles 29:13-14

What is our response to the Easter Message? Christ came into our world and gave his life, freely for us. He suffered, he bled, he faced agony and ridicule. He faced the wrath of God for our sin and the shame and insult of an angry world.

There is an old hymn which says, “nothing in my hand, I cling, simply to the cross I cling.” The sentiment is so true, what can we bring to the cross this Easter, all that we are in Christ, is Christ. All that we possess is from our Father in heaven in the first place. Even our love for each other and for Christ himself is because he first loved us.
If there were no Easter, there would be no salvation. There would be nothing to give because we would have nothing of any value to give to God.

This Easter when you give, don’t measure it in relation to everyone else, but in relation to the sacrificial love of God through Jesus. Don’t look at everyone else or point the finger, but recognize that the only thing you can really give of value is your life in service to God.
You may have nothing in your hand, but you have life, a life where the Spirit of God dwells, that is of value, immense value.
This Easter give from your heart, sing praises with more passion and joy, serve with a willing and beautiful heart. Give your offering with cheerfulness and gladness. Love each other with a measure of how Christ loves and continues to love us. Put away pride, self-centredness and offense and wear humility, thankfulness and patience. Portrait kindness and mercy, forgiving others as Christ has forgiven you. If we give each other these things then we are giving God, what he has already given us.

But please never forget that whatever our token of love through our giving is, it was still his hands, that the nails were driven into. He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.

Labels: Giving, Humility, Pierced

And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God. 1 Corinthians 2:4-5

I was at an anniversary of a Christian colleague on Friday night and was challenged by many things that were said during the evening. One of the things that was said, was that when we are in Christian service (that includes all of us who confess to be a believer in the Lord Jesus) when we try something new or look at something in a fresh way, how quickly do we revert back to the way we have always done it in the past. This got me thinking about our attitudes towards God’s work.
We all have a certain default setting. On a computer when you buy it from the shop, it comes with standard operating and display settings. Many of us change these to suit our taste or preference, but at any time we can revert by the touch of a button to the original default settings.

In our Christian walk we often change back to the normal settings of our faith, how we have always shared our faith, or worshiped or preached or practically did something, because we get out of our own safe environment. Is it because we are too reliant on our own strength and not confident enough to trust the Holy Sprit to guide us in our service for him?

Paul naturally was a good speaker, he was a leader amongst the Pharisees, he knew how to win an argument in the synagogue, he knew how to be persuasive with his speeches. Once he met Christ on the Damascus Road, all that changed, his natural ability, however brilliant in the eyes of the world, were still second rate to what God was going to pour into him. I am not saying we shouldn’t use our natural talent, of course we should, but not in place of the abilities that the person of the Holy Spirit gives us. If Paul had preached in his own ability alone, he may have got a measure of success and seen a few responding to his message, but because he didn’t revert back to his own default setting, he with the guidance and power of the Spirit of God, changed the Gentile world, forever. Could Paul have achieved that on his own. With all the power he had at his disposal prior to his conversion, he still couldn’t prevent the gospel spreading in the way it did, so how much more with a harder task would Paul have found it, in his own strength alone.

Pray and ask God to fill you daily as you have your times of devotion and rely on him, first and he will use what you have to offer of yourself to achieve fruit for the kingdom

Labels: Default. change, Holy Spirit, New