21st January 2024 Infill Service - Yasmin Chaffer - My Church is comforted

Thank you for yes in order thank you that she's prepared your word. Rather,

we have ears and hearts that are ready to hear from you speak through

are we pray in Jesus' name A good morning. So the salmon title this

morning is my church is comforted. And that may seem like a bit of

an odd title. But when I ask the Lord what I should be speaking

about today, he took me to this verse Isaiah forty verse one, and

I'm from the home in Christian Standard Bible, Isaiah forty verse one. Comfort

comfort my people, says your God. I then thought about how much people

have been through these last months and or are still going through, certainly in

our church and also friends elsewhere. Notice what it says we matter to our

God. We are his people, and he knows when we need comfort.

He's not in immune to or disinterested in the needs of our souls. Let's

turn out to our main verses for today. That's two Corinthians one, verses

three to four. So that's the second Letter to Corinthians, chapter one,

verses three to four. And I'm reading from the Amplified Bible. Blessed,

gratefully, praised, and adored be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus

Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts

and encourages us in every trouble, so that we will be able to comfort

and encourage those who are in any kind of trouble with the comfort with which

we ourselves are comforted by God. Sounds like a bit of a tongue twister,

doesn't it. So I'll say it again, and I won't try and

say it quickly. Blessed, gratefully, praised, and adored, be the

God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the

God of all comfort, who comforts and encourages us in every trouble, so

that we will be able to comfort and encourage those who are in any kind

of trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. First

things First, we need to receive comfort in order to be able to give

it. So, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is also

our father, because he's made us his children, because he has a father's

heart. Roman's eight is very clear that those who believe in Jesus and in

whom the Holy Spirit lives, are children of God. So the God and

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is our father t This is how he's described

here, the Father of mercies. That word also means compassion for those whose

experiences are a father were quite different to that. It may be quite hard

to accept that this is the truth about your heavenly Father, but it is.

His mercies are for you as well as for me and for all his

children. He doesn't have favorites. He has compassion for you. It doesn't

matter whether you think you deserve it or not. None of us do.

But it doesn't stop our heavenly Father from loving you and having mercy and compassion

for you. As Jesus says in John sixteen twenty seven, the amplified version,

the Father himself tenderly loves you because you have loved me and have believed

that I came from the Father. The God of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the Father of mercies, is also the God of all comfort. It's his

nature, a natural expression of who he is. Our God and heavenly Father

comforts and encourages us in every trouble. This is one of the reasons why

I like the Amplified Bible. It helps us to understand more fully the origin

of the meaning of the original word. It's most translations say he comforts us

in every trouble or affliction, but this says he comforts and encourages us.

We need both, don't we, And our loving heavenly Father is so ready

and willing to comfort and encourage us. What we can't presinct is how he'll

do it, or through whom if he does it through a person. But

it does say that our God and Father comforts and encourages us in every trouble,

not just sometimes. The word trouble can also be translated tribulation or trials

or oppression. The Greek word has a literal meaning of being under pressure.

If you feel or have felt under pressure lately, this is very much for

you. If you haven't, that's great, but drink this message in so

there's something in your tank when it happens. Because Jesus is very clear in

John sixteen thirty three, in this world you will have trouble, but take

heart, I have overcome the world. God comforts us in so many different

ways. It's good to recognize that and the fact that He does work through

normal people like you and me, and not assume for example, that his

comfort will only come directly through his Holy Spirit or his word. That's a

general principle. Our heavenly Father sometimes chooses to work through people and not only

believers, to speak to us and to provide for us in so many different

ways. That doesn't surprise me because those who don't yet believe are still his

children or created to be His children, made in his image, even if

they don't know or acknowledge it yet. I remember, for example, years

ago, someone I used to work with sometimes who wasn't a believer, and

I remember him telling me about when he learned that his father had died,

and that really helped me. Later when my mom passed away. He said

he was on holiday in Cyprus, I think, and he learned his father

had passed away, so he cut short his holiday to go home, and

in the taxi on the way to the airport, he told the taxi driver

why he was cutting short his holiday, and he was expecting a sympathetic response,

but the taxi driver just shrugged and said that's life. And whilst he

was initially taken aback, it actually helped him to adjust to the news because

he then thought, actually, that's true. It is life. Remembering this

helped me after my mum died because it helped normalize the experience for me.

So I processed it as something normal and kept coming back to this phrase which

came to my head. This will neither devastate nor define me. Yes,

of course I experienced grief, but this was one of the markers in the

sand that I would not crumble as a result. This will neither devastate nor

define me. And obviously this is a principle that doesn't just apply to bereavement,

but to any kind of trial or trouble. Jesus himself said that trials

and troubles are normal. But take heart, I have overcome the world.

God comforts and heals in different ways, and it's His word that defines me,

defines us, not our experiences. They may shape us in different ways,

and sometimes we'll need to allow God's word to reshape, but we need

to make sure that it's His word that defines us, that has the last

say on who we are, on our identity. I think it's also worth

noting something that Joyce Meyer, the American author and Bible teacher, mentions in

her notes in the Amplified Bible. She says the Holy Spirit is actually called

the comforter, among other descriptive names in John fourteen, verse twenty six.

His various names describe his character our helper, our comforter, our advocate,

our intercessor, our strengthener, our standby, our counselor. They reveal what

he does and what he desires to do for believers. He is willing to

do so much for us if we are willing to receive his help. For

many years, she says, I regularly became angry with my husband Dave,

because he would not comfort me when I felt I needed it. I'm sure

he was trying, but now I realized that God would not allow Dave to

give me the comfort I should have been seeking from him. God was longing

to give me that comfort by the Holy Spirit, if only I had asked.

God will only allow people to do a certain amount for us, and

no more. Even those people who are extremely close to us cannot give us

everything we need. All the time, when we expect others to do for

us what only God can do, our expectations are in the wrong place,

and we will be disappointed. No comfort is as good as the comfort God

provides. People can never give us what we really need, unless God himself

chooses to work through other people to reach us, which he often does,

whether he uses another person to comfort you or he comforts you himself by the

Holy Spirit. Let me really remind you that He is the comforter, Ask

for and receive his comfort whenever you need it. Back to me now.

Our need for comfort will come in different guyses, and what's appropriate obviously depends

on the person and the situation. Sometimes it's been about being reminded of basics,

like what it says in The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and

the Horse by Charlie Mackasy. Always remember you matter, You're important, and

you are loved, and you bring to this world for things that no one

else can. That's worth repeating. Always remember you matter, You're important,

and you are loved, and you bring to this world things that no one

else can. Going back to two Corinthians one, verses three to four,

Blessed, gratefully praised, and adored be the God and Father of our Lord,

Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort,

who comforts and encourages us in every trouble, so that we will be able

to comfort and encourage those who are in any kind of trouble with the comfort

with which we ourselves are comforted by God. God is a God of purpose.

He wastes nothing and always sees the bigger picture. As some of you

may have heard me say many times, God can bring good out of absolutely

anything. We readily personalize our need, in this instance, for comfort when

we're struggling. But God's desire is not only to meet our needs, but

to help put us in a position to comfort others as we ourselves have been

comforted. Other words, it's not in our own strength, but passing on

what we ourselves have received. It's the power of testimony, isn't it.

It encourages and feeds other people. That's why Christian autobiographies are so popular.

We want to know what God has done in and for and through others because

it encourages us to believe the Lord to meet us at the point of our

need, and it encourages us to believe the miracles. I had the privilege

recently of meeting the Christian grandson of Lieutenant General Sir William Dobby. If you're

not into military history, you won't have heard of him as the staff Officer

Anty on the eleventh of November in nineteen eighteen. His was the only signature

on the ceasefire telegram that was sent to all troops that ended World War One.

He was later appointed governor and Commander in chief the Mediterranean island of Malta

and went there in April nineteen forty. It soon became the most bond place

on Earth. On the twenty fifth of April nineteen forty six, Dobby spoke

to tens of thousands of people on Anzac Day in Melbourne, Australia. He

said it was only with the help of Almighty God that Malta survived, and

to him we owe the victory granted to our armed forces. Humanly speaking,

Malta could not hold out. But I took courage from the fact that I

read in the Bible that God had delivered people who in times past had been

in similar positions. In answer to prayer, God delivered Malta. And I

recommend to you, my God and Savior, Jesus Christ, as one who

has never failed. I was able to put my trust in him as one

who I had known for many years, and I believe that what He has

been for me, he will be to all who accept Him as their savior,

friend, and guide. Dobby's book, A Very Present Help, gives

various accounts of the comfort and courage he received in different ways, from a

timely telegram with a verse of scripture to the enemy making and I quote,

colossal blunders due to what he firmly believed was God's restraining hand. I'm not

making light of the suffering of the people of Malta, and I'm quoting a

man who is keenly aware of them, but he was there and saw God's

hand and protection and provision in so many ways. My point is that when

we're up against it, facing seemingly impossible situations, it's good to encourage ourselves,

not only by reading the Bible, especially scriptures that the Lord highlights to

us and rereading them, but also reading, for example, autobiographies, or

listening to or watching testimonies of God's faithfulness. In One Samuel thirty, when

David and his men returned home to Ziklag, they found it had been burned

and the women and children taken captive. Obviously, they were all distraught,

but it was even worse for David because the people were speaking of stoning him

look at David's response though in One Samuel thirty verse six, but David encouraged

and strengthened himself in the Lord. In the Lord his God, sometimes that

comfort encouragement we need will only come as we see God for ourselves. When

we do that, it can turn things around, not only for ourselves,

but also for those around us. In David's case, he turned to God

for his advice in an impossible looking situation. In One Samuel thirty eight,

David in quis of the Lord whether they should pursue those who had burned their

villages and abducted their families. God said go. So they went, and

David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken. As it says in verse nineteen,

nothing of theirs was missing, whether small or great sons or daughters,

spoil or anything that had been taken. David recovered it all. All.

Because David chose to encourage himself in the Lord in the face of an impossible

situation, everyone benefited. We have an open invitation in Hebrews four sixteen Hebrews

full sixteen. Let us therefore come boldly to the Throne of Grace, that

we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. That

word boldly tells us our attitude in approaching God. The meaning of the Greek

includes confidently. We can be open and speak freely. We don't need to

be shy or fearful or anxious. Come boldly to the throne. The throne

reminds us who we're approaching, the Holy King of Kings, and it's described

as a throne of grace or favor. God's sat his position of King of

kings and all his holiness is grace, its favor towards us. This is

how and whom we're approaching and our time of need, including our need for

comfort. We are invited to come confidently before the Almighty God, remembering we

have favor with him because of Jesus, His mercy and loving kindness endure forever,

as we're reminded in Psalm one hundred and six, verse one, they

will never run out. Back to two Corinthians one, verses three to four,

God of all comfort, who comforts and encourages us in every trouble,

so that we will be able to comfort and encourage those who are in any

kind of trouble with the comfort, with which we ourselves have been comforted by

God. We can seek comfort in different ways, and we can be offered

comfort in different ways, some constructive, unconstructive, helpful, unhelpful. But

I remember reading something about our lady Queen, who is now with the Lord.

She had a guest who was a war veteran. I don't recall the

circumstances, but I do remember that at a certain point in the conversation he

couldn't speak because he was so overcome with emotion because of what he'd been through.

Our gracious Queen, in her wisdom, motioned to a servant and said

something quietly, and he brought dog biscuits. The next period of time they

sat there quietly feeding her dogs, and whilst he recovered himself. I'm sure

the Queen's kindness and understanding was a great comfort to this man. In John

five nineteen, Jesus said, I tell you the truth. The son can

do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the father doing.

Whatever the father does, the son does. In John twelve fifty, Jesus

said, whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.

The more that we get used to this way of living, the more

likely are we are to recognize when God is calling us to comfort and encourage

and have the wisdom to know how to do so. Proverbs fifteen, verse

four in the Amplified Bible says, a soothing tongue speaking words that build up

and encourage is a tree of life, but a perversive tongue speaking words at

overwhelm and depress crush the spirit. We have the power and the responsibility to

use our words to build up and encourage. It's so important to have integrity

too. This isn't about saying everything will be fine if it's not within your

power to do so. But we can think about how we tell the truth

and how much of the truth is relevant for a particular situation in person.

I'm not talking about lying, but being wise and discerning about how much of

the truth a person is able to handle. It can be as simple as

conveying a glass half full message instead of a glass half empty. I remember

the day I went in for an operation on my hip. This is a

few years ago. Before the operation, I saw the nurse, who was

lovely. Then I saw the nethetist, who was equally lovely. Then I

saw the surgeon. He has I'm not anti surgeons are really not. I'm

very grateful for them, but this guy really needed to reset his bedside manner.

Course, I understood it was his job to make me aware of the

risk before I signed the consent form, but the conversation went such that I

ended up asking him, but I will be better afterwards, won't I His

face was completely emotionless when he answered, statistically speaking, there's a one percent

chance that you won't be. I thought, seriously, you could have given

me exactly the same information with a bright, cheery smile and said, there's

a ninety nine percent chance that you will be, but I have to make

you aware of the one percent risk. Our words matter. With them,

we can comfort and encourage, or we can own, overwhelm and crush the

spirit. We need to choose well. If we get it wrong, which

we all do, sometimes we also have the power to do something about it.

We can't unsay the words, we can't take them back, but for

example, saying I'm sorry and meaning it can be a good starting point.

It can make a real difference. Being aware of someone's love. Languages can

make a real difference too. Some of you will know what I'm talking about

But for those who don't, I'll just briefly explain. Gary Chapman is an

American author, speaker, counselor who's written a series of books based on the

five Love languages. The premise is quite simple. Different people with different personalities

give and receive love if you feel valued in different ways. By learning to

recognize these preferences in yourself and in your loved ones, you can learn to

identify the root of your conflicts, connect more profoundly, and obviously better understand

how to comfort and encourage others, so you have acts of service for these

people. Actions speak louder than words. Receiving gifts. For some, receiving

a heartfelt gift is what makes them feel most loved. Quality time This language

is always all about giving a person your undivided attention. Words of affirmation.

This language uses words to affirm other people and physical touch to this person.

Appropriate physical touch is really important. It may be that one or two of

these stand out is really important to you and others less. So there's a

quiz you can do. But being aware of your own and others' needs in

this way can make a real difference to your relationships, particularly when seeking to

comfort and encourage. I know there's one in this series called the five Love

Languages in the Workplace, in case that's helpful for anyone to know. When

you know what someone's love languages are, it makes it easier to comfort and

encourage on purpose as well as more effectively. I'm well aware that when I

started looking at two Corinthians one, verses three to four, I jumped straight

to the fact that our God is the same God and Father of our Lord

Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. A

leap frog, so to speak, over the start of the verse, which

will turn to now so two Corinthians one, verse three, Blessed, gratefully,

praise and adored be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

That's actually really important, not only as our heavenly Father worthy of all praise,

worthy of all worship and adoration, but when we praise and worship him,

we lift our eyes off our circumstances and onto the one who is above

all these things, far greater than all our circumstances. It helps us to

get a right perspective, his perspective on what we're actually dealing with. I'm

not saying anything new here, but reminding us that we don't need to be

feeling it. We don't need to feel like it to do it. We

can ask God to help us by his Holy Spirit to praise and worship Him,

especially when we don't have anything left in the tank. And remember songs,

even words aren't essential, they're great and can help bring us that place

where we're before the Lord with our hearts lifted up to him in silence.

So in closing, let's remind ourselves of the key scriptures we've looked at today.

I'll just read them one more time. Sets two Corinthians one, verses

three to four. Blessed, gratefully praised and adored be the God and Father

of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of

all comfort, who comforts and encourages us in every trouble, So that we

will be able to comfort and encourage those who are in any kind of trouble

with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. Let's pray,

Father, God, thank you that you are always worthy to be praised,

regardless of our circumstances. You never change. Thank you that you are the

father of mercies and the God of all comfort, and your mercy and loving

kindness endure forever, they never fail. Thank you so much that you comfort

and encourage us in every trouble. Father, God, If anyone needs comfort

and strength from you right now, please give it to them. Meet with

them. Lord, help us to comfort and encourage others in trouble with the

comfort with which we ourselves have been comforted by you. Thank you so much

that you are always faithful to hear us when we pray, and we pray

in the precious name above all names, Jesus Amen.