BH Bulletin - Wednesday 26 May 2021

Thought for the Day by Rich Arnold
​(Youth and Families Minister - Holy Cross)

Psalm 1
Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the LORD,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither--
    whatever they do prospers.
4 Not so the wicked!
    They are like chaff
    that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
 
How can you truly flourish in life?  According to a wellbeing website here are 10 steps:
 
Step 1: Make a decision to be happy and start to believe that real happiness is a definite possibility.
Step 2: Determine what happiness and inner beauty mean to you.
Step 3: Think optimistically about achieving the life you want.
Step 4: Don’t go it alone.
Step 5: Get yourself organised and make plans.
Step 6: Live a healthy life.
Step 7: Have fun!
Step 8: Find a sense of spirituality.
Step 9: Go with your strengths.
Step 10: Persevere.
 
While some of those things might be helpful to a degree, the problem with them is that they focus on ‘me’.  But God says the way to truly flourish is to look to him, to gaze upon him, to love him.
 
Psalm 1 starts with a description of the blessed person- that is, someone who is content, even happy, as they live with God’s smile upon them.  In other words, the blessed person is the person who truly flourishes in life.  
 
So, what’s the secret to flourishing?  It’s simply to love God’s law (v3), that is his word.  We can only know God through his word, so to delight in his word is really to delight in him, in knowing him more fully more deeply day by day.  Not only that, but the Lord Jesus is The Word (John 1:1-4, 14) so to delight in the word of God is to delight in Christ himself.  That is the key to flourishing! Which is why the psalmist uses this lovely image of a strong tree in v3.  When we are rooted in the word of God, in Christ, we will be like a strong, healthy, beautiful, fruit producing Oak.  
 
There are two ways to live according to Psalm 1.  There is the way of the wicked and there is God’s way.  The wicked end up bitterly deriding God (v1); their lives prove to be futile and inconsequential (v4); and ultimately, they will not stand safely before God on judgement day (v4-6).  In contrast, living God’s way- the way of flourishing- brings stability, growth, fruit, and prosperity (v3); it means being loved, cared for and watched by God (v6); and ultimately brings eternal hope and security (v5-6).
 
This isn’t about wicked sinners vs us ‘good’ people, for all of us are unrighteous and fall short of God’s standards (Rom 3:10-11).  There has only ever been one righteous man. One blessed man. One man who fully loved the law of God and therefore who truly flourished.  When we are in Christ, his life is ours, his blessedness becomes ours.  We can’t earn this blessedness; we must be given it.  
 
So how can we flourish?  Not by looking to ourselves but by looking to Christ and his word, by gazing upon him day after day, and by living the life he has won for us.
 
Enjoy being blessed! Go and flourish!
Rich

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Volunteer wanted as an Eco warrior to help us move to become a more ECO church

Are you interested in looking after our environment and reducing our carbon footprint as a church? If you are we are looking for someone to champion this for us. The Chichester Diocese along with the rest of the Church of England are wanting churches to be carbon neutral by 2030 and we want to be supportive of this initiative. If you are interested in taking this forward please contact the church office.

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Praying during the Pandemic

​Please remember that we meet again, on Zoom, at 7.00pm this evening for 30 minutes to pray for our country. The link is on MyChurchSuite in the usual way. Look forward to seeing you there.

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