This week I am speaking at UWE Christian Union as part of a series called IGNITE. On Thursday we’ll be looking at 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:10. This series is in the run up to a week of evangelistic events put on by the CU(28th Nov-4th Dec).

2 Corinthians 4 and 5 have application into both how evangelism “works” and our role in it, and how we can over come the inevitable struggles that come with proclaiming “Jesus Christ as Lord”.

Something that has been raised in my heart as I have been preparing for the talk on Thursday night is: what am I putting my hope in as I look for the courage to evangelise?

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.  For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
– 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

It is probably safe to say that Paul suffered more in his life than any of us have or will. He endured through being beaten and imprisoned, being shipwreck and made homeless, he was abandoned by those he was closest to and was left for dead after being stoned, all for the sake of proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord to unbelievers. Yet Paul could confidently called all of these things “light momentary afflictions” as he looked forward to “an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison”.

A question I want to pose to the CU, and one we should all be asking is: Am I prepared to suffer for the sake of the gospel?

The underlying question is not, is it worth it? Paul shows us it undoubtedly is. The question as we seek to share the gospel is, how can we know the hope of spending eternity with our God and King better? Surely this will, through any affliction, spur us on to boldly proclaim Jesus Christ as LORD.

Ephesians 1:15-16: “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.”

In these two verses we see Paul clarifying why he has a reason for giving thanks for the church in Ephesus.  It is because they have faith in the Lord Jesus and a great love for all the saints.

I wanted to to take this opportunity to encourage you all, as I have witnessed these qualities in Grace Church over the last couple of months as our church has welcomed the new and returning students into our homes and hearts.  This servant-hearted love I can see flows from an understanding of the love Christ has shown to us:

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)

Thank you for serving so well and showing love to the new students and the guests that God has brought through our doors. And let me please encourage you to keep exercising this gift, so that everyone (both Christian and non-Christian) who encounters our church, will come to know of the love the Lord Jesus has for us, and them.

This coming Saturday (14th November 2009) at 8pm, is the Skittles Night at the BAWA near Southmead Hospital.

This promises to be a fantastic night , taking the well known 10 pin bowling back in time to the game it came from, 9 pin skittles. The BAWA hosts a pub-style venue with a fully licensed bar, that has been privately booked out by Grace Church. With three alleys, the BAWA boasts to being one of the best skittle alley venues in Bristol.

The Skittles Night gives us a great opportunity to invite friends from outside the church to come along.  You will be able to introduce them to other members of the church and also spend time with the chatting whilst playing Skittles.

This event could be that stepping stone you’ve been looking for to share the gospel or invite your friends to something like a Sunday service, Reason for God Guest Sunday or Christianity Explored, which we shall be starting on Tuesday 26th January 2010.

The Skittles Night is completely free and promises to be a great night of fun.

Click here for directions to BAWA.

In light of our recent series as a church studying Ephesians, and what we have been shown in Ephesians 1:3-14, this quote by John Owen from ‘Worldliness‘ edited by CJ Mahaney stands out as a great application to us of understanding God’s grace in our dealing with sin:

“When someone sets his affections upon the cross and the love of Christ, he crucifies the world as a dead and undesirable thing. The baits of sin lose their attraction and disappear. Fill your affections with the cross of Christ and you will find no room for sin.”

— John Owen

As described by Nathan, the cascade of enjoyment and awe that Paul writes about in Ephesians 1 can do nothing but turn the heart of the believer to praise and adoration to God, who not only saves, but adopts sinners like you and I!

In this quote, John Owen doesn’t just give us a way to dig our heals in, grit our teeth, close our eyes and resist the lure of the false promise of joy and life that sin offers.  No.  He calls us to fill our hearts with affection for the cross of Christ; God becoming man to seek, save and redeem the lost.

This is the way we will truly overcome temptation to pursue the sinful identity and life we have been saved from, so that we may live according to our new identity in Christ.

Let us do just this.  Let us use Paul’s letter to the Ephesians to fill our affections with the wondrous cross of our Saviour, God and King.