30th January 2022 Celebration Service - Yasmin Chaffer - Its a New Day

Good morning, it's a new day. I'm going to start with what's known

as the miracle question in solution focus therapy. Solution focus therapy is an approach

to therapy that I was taught, albeit briefly, during my social work training.

You can apply it to different situations, but I'll illustrate it this way.

Let's say a couple are having difficulties in their marriage and come for therapy.

The miracle question might be, if a miracle happened overnight and your marriage

was suddenly infinitely better, what's the first thing that you would notice that would

tell you that a miracle had occurred overnight. So, for example, the

wife might say, my husband would bring me a cup of tea firstly in

the morning. The wife that the husband might say that his wife wouldn't criticize

him from the minute she opened her mouth. The point of the question is

that each spouse could then be potentially tasked with making that change for a week,

and then come back the following week to share how it had gone and

look at how to move forward. It's a new day. Think about a

challenge that you're facing and apply the miracle question to it. If there was

a miraculous positive change in your situation overnight, Not necessarily that the whole situation

was resolved, but that significant progress was made. What's the first thing that

you would notice that would tell you that a miracle had occurred? Is it

something that you can do something about? Is it something that you're responsible to

action. If it's not, don't do it. In Matthew eighteen, Jesus

talks about the parable of the un for giving debtor that Dave mentioned last week.

We won't look at it in detail, but just briefly. In the

New Living Translation, a servant owed his master the equivalent of millions of dollars.

He couldn't pay, so his master ordered that he'd be sold, along

with his wife, his children, and everything that he had to pay the

debt. But the man fell down before his master, begging him, please

be patient with me, and I will pay it all. Then his master

was filled with pity for him, released him and forgave his debt. But

when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed

him a few thousand dollars, grabbed him by the throat, and demanded instant

payment. His fellow servant begged for a little more time, but his creditor

wouldn't wait and had the man thrown into prison until the debt could be paid.

When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset.

They went to the King and told him everything that had happened. Then the

King called in the man he had forgiven and said, you, evil servant,

I forgave you that tremendous step because you pleaded with me. Shouldn't you

have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you.

When Dave was reading this last week, it struck me as a great illustration

to consider what your role might be in a particular situation. Let's say you're

aware of an injustice. What is the Lord asking you to do about it.

It might be that, like the King, you're in a position of

authority and it's your responsibility to address the issue. It might be that,

like the servants in this parable, your part is to let someone in a

position of authority in that situation know what's happened and leave the matter to them.

The servants could have taken the matters into their own hands, and the

situation could have got quite ugly. Two wrongs don't make a right. Your

part in the much needed miracle may be to pray in order to see the

change. As it says in James five point sixteen in the Passion translation,

Tremendous power is released through the passionate, heart felt prayer of a godly believer.

Tremendous power is released through the passionate, heartfelt prayer of a godly believer.

Sometimes we feel like we need to be doing something, when actually prayer

is the most powerful and necessary thing to do and the only thing that will

make a difference that will bring in a new day. Well, you may

realize that actually the first thing that you'd notice that we'd tell you that a

miracle had occurred in a situation is something that you can do or or at

least contribute towards. You can play your part regardless of what others are doing.

The important thing is to ask the Lord for his perspective on what your

part is in the miracle that's needed, and then commit to doing it with

his help. James one, verses five to seven in the New King James

translation says, if any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God,

who gives generously to all without finding fault. And it will be given to

you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because

the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea blown and tossed by

the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

The Greek word for wisdom used here is sofia, in case you know someone

with that name and hadn't thought about what it means. Sophia means both higher

or lower, worldly or spiritual wisdom, so it covers everything. If you

need God's wisdom to understand your part in the miracle that you need, ask

him. His wisdom is complete. It's more than sufficient to cover your situation.

But when you ask, you must believe, be fully persuaded according to

the Greek views here, and not doubt that God will answer you, because

if you doubt him, he won't remember. You don't have to feel it

to believe it. You just make a decision to trust God that he will

answer you when he prays when you pray, because He said so. I

was reading the latest copy of Together, a magazine for Christian retailers, suppliers,

and writers, and a merger has recently taken place between two suppliers excusative

director of the business was reflecting on the merger, and I thought that what

he said could readily be applied to us as we consider a new day or

a new season in our lives. I'll paraphrase in part, but he said

the most exciting thing about the merger was sitting down, stepping away from the

business as it was, and considering what it should look like, and not

what it looks like currently. The answer ended up being simple. We wanted

to be soaked in prayer. We wanted to hold God so closely and his

mission so lightly that he could mold it, shape it, and do whatever

he wanted with it, fully, secure in the knowledge that it would be

okay, even if he asked us to put it down and say it's done.

Think about that with respect to a new questions you may have about your

life as it is now, or certain aspects of it, or your questions

about your future. I'm going to rephrase what this guy said as we think

about that, I want to be soaked in prayer. I want to hold

God so closely and his plans for my life so lightly that he can mold

them, shape them, and do whatever he wants to do with them,

fully secure in the knowledge that it'll be okay, even if he asks me

to let go of something important to me and says it's done. Maybe taking

time out to review life or certain aspects of it with the Lord is something

to consider. I know that some people may practice to have a retreat,

which is a great thing to do. I also realize that not everyone has

the time and all the money to do so because of other commitments, etc.

What I am suggesting is talking to the Lord about what is feasible for

you to take time out from everyday life to step away, pray and listen.

Moving on to my next point, let's look at Genesis one and verse

ty in the NIV. So Genesis one and verse two. Now the earth

was formless and empty. Darkness was over the surface of the deep, and

the spirit of God was hovering over the waters. I love this verse.

It's that nothingness pregnant with potential that God could see because of his perfect love,

infinite power, and wisdom. God started with nothing. The earth was

formless and empty. Whilst it had potential, it didn't even have all the

necessary ingredients for life because they hadn't yet been created. God sees potential Even

if all the necessary ingredients to fulfill His plans and purposes for your life don't

yet exist, he can create them. It's so important that we learn to

look at potential in our lives and in the lives of those around us through

God's eyes, and not just what we see what's there or not there,

and allow that to limit our faith and our thinking. Before time began,

God was truly starting with a blank canvas when he came up with the idea

of earth and mankind. He's an expert at taking nothing and turning it into

something. Nothing is impossible with God. The Holy Spirit was poised at the

ready waiting for God's work to be spoken in faith. Nothing happened until God

God spoke in faith. That's such an important lesson for us right there,

but not one for me to go into today. This is how God approached

in New Beginning Genesis one three, and God said, let there be light.

And there was light. So I say to us, all those in

the room, those listening online, and those listening afterwards to the podcast,

let there be light, the light of revelation in your spirit, of your

destiny and purpose, God's destiny and purpose for you. And may this be

your new day, that start of something new, or the next stage of

his plans that God has in mind for you. And may the light of

that revelation rise up within you to overflow in your responses to your current situation

and circumstances. I say that by faith in Jesus' name, because I believe

that He wanted me to. I'd just like to mention one verse that makes

it clear that God has plans in mind for you for all of us.

Ephesians two ten in the New King James version says that for we are His

workmanship created in Christ Jesus, for good works which God prepared beforehand, that

we should walk in them. If this feels all a bit out there for

you right now, something you find difficult to connect with because of the challenges

you're facing right now, please be encouraged by a message that a friend sent

to me a few days ago. I was listening to a Christian audiobook yesterday

and something that was said really stuck. It's biblical, but was said in

a way that I really got. It was impactful for me. Here it

is God is all I need to do, all things I need to do.

There are various Bible passages that say this, including nothing is impossible with

God. But the paraphrase was something that really helped focus me. I had

to check myself many times as things happened in the day, did I really

believe this? And there were many instances and moments where I was challenged and

I repeated this statement to myself or out loud as a declaration I chose to

believe despite the outward circumstances. It also made me realize that good or bad,

in all things, God works for good for those who believe and trust

in Him. She's referencing Remen's eight twenty eight. Here, God is all

I need to do, all things I need to do. A couple of

scriptures say it this way. Philip four p. Thirteen and The New King

James says I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. To

Crintin's twelve and verse nine, and the NIV says, my grace is sufficient

for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness. That word translated

power here is dunamis in the Greek, and that often means miraculous power,

which makes sense. It's God's own inherent power that is made perfect in our

weakness. In other words, I am complete in Him. Whatever I lack

Jesus has. This is a new day. For some that might mean a

change of mindset from I can't this is too much to God is all I

need to do, all things I need to do, Like my friend,

and different challenges crop up the day. We can choose to think or say

out loud if it's appropriate to do so. God is all I need to

do, all things I need to do. Moving on to my next point.

For one lady in the Bible, her new day came because she made

a decision to give outrageously, to give sacrificially generously to God, to Jesus,

and her actions were immortalized in God's eternal word as an example to all

mankind. When you choose to do something that gets God's attention to that degree,

that's got to herald a new day. Let's look briefly at the passage

in Matthew twenty six, verses six to thirteen, and I'm reading from the

NIV. That's Matthew twenty six, verses six to thirteen. While Jesus was

in Bethany, in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came to

him with an alabaster jar expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as

he was reclining at table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant.

Why this waste? They asked. This perfume could have been sold at

a high price and the money given to the poor. Aware of this,

Jesus said to them, why are you bothering this woman? She has done

a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you,

but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my

body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Truly, I tell

you that wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done

will also be told in memory of her. According to the NIV Cultural Background

Study Bible, natural alabaster it's probably calcite. Here is translucent and can resemble

white marble, soft and easily carved. It's also easily broken. People often

stored expensive ointments in alabaster flasks, but because they were sealed to keep the

ointments from evaporating, they might need to be broken to release the ointment.

As I understand it, The disciple's response that this use of such costly perfume

was a waste was probably because if you were wasting resources, then you were

violating a command of the Torah. However, Jesus defended it by saying that

it was not an action to celebrate him, but an act of mourning,

and since it was an act of mourning, it fitted in with the law.

Passover lambs were chosen six days in advance and were anointed at different times

for different purposes which I won't go into here. The Passover lamb was the

animal God directed the Israelites to use as a sacrifice in Egypt on the night

God struck down the firstborn sons of every household. This was the final play

God issued against Pharaoh and led to Pharaoh releasing the Israelites from slavery. After

that, God instructed the Israelites to observe the Passover feast as a lasting memorial.

The lamb had to be perfect two days prior to Passover. The passover

lamb was anointed on its head to announce that it was free from disease or

blemish. The head of Jesus was anointed two days before he was crucified,

and was a sign that he was well without sickness. Or defect. He

was in perfect health. Jesus was the perfect sacrificial lamb of God, killed

to take away the punishment of our sins, so that everyone who accepts his

sacrifice, that he is the son of God, that he died in our

place and then rose again, will live eternally with him in heaven. That's

a choice available to you. Hear, and now if you've never made that

decision. We don't know whether this lady knew that she was preparing Jesus for

burial, or whether she made this lavish gesture of generosity from the heart unaware

of its eternal significance. I suspect the Latin, but I don't know.

The Bible doesn't say what does it mean for you for me to give something

special to Jesus? What would constitute your alabaster jar of expensive fragrant oil.

What would be a sacrificially generous gesture to Jesus for you? This is a

genuinely no pressure question about a one off gesture and doesn't necessarily relate to money.

It might do if you're feeling that prompting in your spirit, or you've

been feeling it for a while, to give, for example, to the

church, a mission, someone in need. Whatever it is, it might

be giving sacrificially of your time again to the church, supporting someone in need,

or to prayer for the church, a mission, or about someone's personal

situation of which you're aware. It's good to consider how we might be a

blessing to Jesus. Do something special as a one of this could herald your

new day. Doing something sacrificial for Jesus changes you. Galatians two twenty is

a powerful and challenging verse which I'll read in the NIV. I have been

crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.

The life I now live in the body I live by faith in the

Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. The more

we meditate on this truth, the more we'll connect with this truth, the

more we'll live this truth. Being crucified with Christ, in simple terms,

is talking about a daily sacrifice of what we would naturally like to do or

say or think that is not grounded in love, which is God's law.

The apostle Paul who wrote this is saying, I have a new life in

Christ. I'm no longer that person. I used to be. Because Paul

chose to live a new life in Christ, his past could no longer hold

him back, and he could embrace the great future that God had for him.

This invitation is open to us all to live as Paul encourages us to

do by his example, by faith in the Son of God, remembering he

loved us. This is from Joyce Meyer's book You Can Begin Again. I

don't know if you've stop to think about it, but your story with God

is the greatest story you know, simply because you're the one living it.

You understand the highs and lows, the laughter and the tears better than anyone

else ever. Could you know how far the Lord has brought you, and

you know how far you still have to go. There is something unique and

powerful about the ongoing story of your walk with God. I've said it many

times, but I think it's right to repeat it again. God can bring

good out of anything if we'll ask him and trust him to answer. I've

seen this so many times, including with what I went through supporting my elderly

parents and doing what I've needed to do since they passed, and how I've

been able to use this experience to support others going through different, similar circumstances.

There is something about going through something what you learn about God, his

love, his faithfulness, his amazing grace, the strength gives you to do

what you didn't think you could do, but chose to do anyway because it

was right. It's the reality of Psalm eighty four versus five to six,

which I'll read from an IV. Psalm eighty four versus five to six.

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage

as they pass through the valley of Baca or weeping, they make it a

place of springs. What's the point of the springs? They provide refreshing to

those who follow after ye. Let me share something of someone else's very different

story that encouraged me that I read in the magazine Together that I mentioned earlier.

It's written by a first time novelist called Amanda Cox. In it,

she refers to a query letter, which is what a budding author sends to

entice an agent or editor into reading or requesting your work. She refers to

the moments the girl who fears rejection pressed send with a shaking finger on a

query letter with Jesus holding my other hand and whispering to my heart that my

goal was not to find acceptance, but to put myself out there, to

try to offer my loaves and fishes, and to leave the rest up to

him. Little flashes of memories played all the nose, and how the Lord

use these rejections to teach me and shape me, remembering the moments of doubt

in which the Lord would continue to whisper to my heart. I didn't ask

you to work out the details. I just asked you to take that one

next step and follow me on this adventure we're on. I really hope that

this will encourage This is a new day. Take that one next step that

you know to take, even if you're shaking whilst you do it, Try

offer your loaves and fish back to the Lord and leave the rest up to

him. Jesus hasn't asked you to work out the details, only to follow

him. As I read elsewhere, faith implies risk without risk, we tread

the path of mediocrity, which is not part of the Christian Gospel. To

finish, I'd like to remind us once again that God is all I need

to do, all things I need to do in fact, let's say that

together, God is all I need to do, all things I need to

do. It's a new day. Amen, Thank you, thank you,

Yasmin. Whether you please let me just add a ps to that if you

feel like it, if you feel like it's not a new day, then

change your feelings. Change your feelings. And I know we sometimes say,

well I can't, I just feel so bad at the moment. Okay,

get up, change your position, allow God to change your position. Ask

someone to pray with you. But please don't start from where you are and

say, well, how can it be a new day? Look at the

mess that I'm in, Step out of the mess that you're in, and

look back at it, and God will give you a fresh perspective. Today

is a new day. It can become a new day. Tomorrow will be

a new day, and the next day will be a new day, and

the day after that will be a new day. And in all those days

there are opportunities. There is healing, there is wholeness, there is completeness,

there are miracles. God is at work. God can use us.

Please, it's a new day.