BH Bulletin - Tuesday 5 January 2021

Thought for the Day by Stephen Demetriou
(Youth Minister)

     
   THINGS GOD CANNOT DO

​How do you feel about the song My God is so big?




​As a refresher; here’s how it goes:

My God is so BIG So strong and so mighty
There’s nothing that He cannot do.
My God is so BIG So strong and so mighty
There’s nothing that He cannot do.
 
The mountains are His,
The valleys are His,
The stars are His handiwork too.
 
My God is so BIG So strong and so mighty
There’s nothing that He cannot do.
 
Can I be frank? I don’t like that song.
I don’t like it because it’s wrong…
 
There are lots of things God cannot do. And that is really, really good news for us.

Now, before you start writing in to Phil to get me fired(!!) just think about it.
What do you think God can’t do?…

God can’t lie; God can’t change; God can’t learn; God can’t turn a blind eye; God can’t be seen and God can’t be surprised.
That’s very different to us! The things God can’t do show us the huge scale of difference between us and Him!
 
And do you see why those attributes of God are really really good news for us?
In fact, one of my old lecturers at college would say often in the Bible when God wants to comfort us, He tells us the things He can’t do or won’t do.
 
Like in Isaiah 40:28 to comfort a people in desperate need of comfort, what does God say?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.
 
See the things God can’t do should bring us as much joy and wonder as the things He can do.
I’ll explore some more of them in these thought for the days in the coming weeks but for now
have another look at that list above of things God can’t do, spend some time thinking about them and delighting in our God.
And whilst you’re at it; why not sing my version of my God is so big;
 
Our God is so BIG, so strong and so mighty
There are some things God cannot do.

Our God is so BIG, so strong and so mighty,
There are some things God cannot do.
 
God cannot Lie
God cannot change
God cannot suffer or die....!
 
Our God is so BIG, so strong and so mighty,
There are some things God cannot do!!
​
​Stephen

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For the next couple of months, at least, Cameo won’t be meeting  in the Church buildings so we would love to invite anyone who is able to access Zoom on a Thursday morning, between 11:00 and 12:00 approximately, to join us for refreshments & chat, topics of interest, quizzes, discussions and more...please come along using the link in ChurchSuite and we look forward to meeting you there.

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​WHERE TO START WHEN YOU FIND EVANGELISM DIFFICULT!!

​“I hate evangelists!” was almost shouted in my face when a friend heard I was training in evangelism. That’s the sort of reaction that puts people off doing evangelism!

But there are - of course - other reasons why we find evangelism so difficult.

Sometimes we just get a polite rejection. Playing tennis one day, one of my friends said: “Why can’t you just leave people where they are?”.  That type of experiences leaves us all thinking: “Ouch! I don’t want to go there again!".

Or sometimes we feel inadequate, we don’t think we have any right to talk about Jesus because our lives don’t match up.

So, evangelism is tough... how do we overcome these hurdles, and help others to overcome them too?

Firstly, we need to remember the glorious gospel of grace in 1 John 4:10:

‘This is love: not that we loved God but that he loved us.’

The point is, God loves us even when we don’t love him.  People reject God, and so they will reject His message.

The wonder of the gospel is that on the cross we see the way God has treated us. God’s gospel is the love He has for us and that’s what we see in Jesus!

So, none of us are going to share God’s love, or talk about Jesus unless first of all we know that love for ourselves. So, a starting point for evangelism is knowing God personally!

But then, how do I pass on the good news confidently, in the face of rejection and embarrassment?

Here are three thoughts from my experience that can encourage your evangelism...

• Pray for your friends, pray with your friends, pray against the opposition. You’ll find that you’re engaging in spiritual warfare when you evangelise so don’t be afraid to ask the Church to pray, pray, pray!  There is no evangelism without prayer!
• Don’t try and be the lone evangelist! Share your lives with others, connect with what makes them tick, rejoice and weep with them. I’ve found it really helpful to have other Christians in our friendship group. One of these friends doesn’t play tennis but has joined the group to chat with those who come for coffee. Her faith has really blossomed as she shares her life and faith with the others, I’m so thankful to God for her!
• Find a connection with people and start conversations. I’ve found our book group really helpful in looking at an issue that’s not personal so a bit easier to talk about. For example, we’ve just read ‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’ which poses the question of suffering and of ‘man’s inhumanity to man’ and all this over tea and cake! Whatever your interest, use it for the Lord. It could be a TV programme or film that’s affected you. Ask good questions and LISTEN! We need the Spirit’s gift of discernment so we can understand where someone is coming from. 

And how about the lady who said she hated evangelists? After 4 years (!), she now welcomes me into her home and we’ve had some good chats... so God has certainly not finished His work yet! 
Judith

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