Crestwood Church Blog

“Who is this, arising like the dawn, as fair as the moon, as bright
as the sun, as majestic as an army with billowing banners?” Song of Songs 6:10

I wonder what people see of God in us as they meet with us on Sunday morning. Do they see a God to be revered and trusted or someone that is laughable and of no reputation.
In biblical times, the world was afraid of the Jews, in the days of the early church, powerful Roman Emperors were afraid of the church. They went to great measured to destroy them and their beliefs. Today in much of the Western world, governments and other powers leave us to get on with what we want. Is it because it has no effect on them. We are not meant to be drawing attention to ourselves, but we can sometimes be good at that, the church is often in the news or on TV for all the wrong reasons. What we should be doing is drawing people’s attention to Christ.
How can we be more effective in the days we live in?

Often the church is more like the description found in Rev 3:17 which describes us as “wretched, poor, blind and naked.” This is the description of a prisoner of war, not a victorious “child of God”. This is not giving the right message to the community we live in. We should be flying the banner of God high into the sky and declaring his greatness.
“Joy is the flag flown high form the castle of my heart, where the king in residence there.” I used to sing this in Sunday School, but it is relevant for us today. People should come into God’s house desperate for him and in fear of him. Perhaps we can be far too comfortable sometimes.
Instead of the world imitating the church, we start to be scared of the world and start imitating it.
Let us not fall into this trap and become so immersed in the world that there is hardly a difference in us.

Three things which will make a difference
1. Live with honesty and holiness (as fair as the moon)
2. Live in the truth and live the truth to others (as bright as the sun)
3. Live as one who belongs to the Almighty God. Determined, courageous, confident and not ashamed of Christ (as majestic as an army with billowing banners).
Then those around us will see that the Lord Jesus is alive and his Spirit is in us and that the Father is fighting for us. Lets worship him as a statement to who he is, not just for how we feel on a Sunday morning. I want people to look at Crestwood Church and say, “these people love God and fear him, I must go and find out why”

Andy Hodson

Labels: Courageous, Determined, Revered

Jesus said "I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life." John 14:12

Last night I watched the film Luther based on Martin Luther, the 16th Century German Monk who brought about the reformation. This was a time when true Christianity was practised outside of an immoral Roman Catholic church which was based on idolatry and money grabbing. Through his persistience and his devotion to his Saviour, he took on the greatest power of his day and won. He made the Bible accessible to the common man by translating it into German, paving the way for our own English versions. It was his search for the truth that underlined his passion to achieve this mammoth task. He found the truth as he read the illuminated words of his Saviour.

It was the light that gave him power and strength. Before he was blinded to the truth, but the more he studied the word the more he was convicted not just to believe it, but to act upon it. It wasn’t out of duty, but it was born out of love for God. In his time the Roman church scared the people into conforming to its way and left them empty, frightened and without hope or certainty. But the true gospel is about liberty and not suppression, it is about hope and truth — and truth sets you free (John 8:32)!

What hit me about Luther’s story was how ordinary our lives are compared to his. We know precious little of this way of life, but how we should want it. To be so overwhelmed by the love of God and so consumed by his light or truth that we will not rest until that which concerns us has come out of darkness and into line with his light.

It may not be a reformation of the church, it maybe a person, an area, something that needs illumination. Something that is dead because Christ isn’t Lord of it and you are determined that with God’s help it may have life.

Labels: convicted, Determined, Light