the fruit of the Spirit...

In the New Testament in Galatians 5:22 it says "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. As I read this earlier in the week it struck me that, as believers of Jesus Christ, this is the fruit we will produce in our lives. What delicious fruit! But, what difficult fruit to produce.

I'm reading a novel at the moment in which one of the characters is called Lovely. It's easy to love the Lovelies and it's easy to be patient and kind and gentle when things are going well. But what about the Unlovelies in our lives? They are much more difficult to love, to be patient with, to be kind to. And when life is tough the long list of fruit seems impossible.

There are many magazines and books that currently offer solutions for good things in your life, your soul, and life transformation but all of these rely on self help. Jesus, however, tells us "I am the vine; you are the branches.Those who remain in Me, and I in them will produce much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing." John 15:5 . Our focus is to be on Jesus Christ - concentrating on Him, getting to know Him better and spending time with Him. Mary came and sat as Jesus feet and listened to Him. This is what Jesus said of Mary: "but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." I love how Jesus reassures us that spending time with Him will be protected and that if we stay in Him, He stays in us too and then He will produce the fruit.

Spend some time this week with Jesus Christ. Find time to talk to Him about any issues or relationships that are troubling you. Sit at His feet and open up a Bible and hear the words that He speaks. If you're not sure where to start, begin with the Gospel of John in the New Testament. Begin living with Him now. "The one thing I ask of the Lord, the thing I seek most, is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord's perfections and meditating in his temple." Psalm 27:4 NLT

Come, now is the time to worship

Do you know the song "Come, now is the time to worship"? I’m always struck by the line in the song that says “Come just as you are to worship”. So often we feel we have to clean ourselves up before we come and worship but we can come just as we are, mess and all!

A number of you sent emails expressing an interest in the book “Messy Spirituality” mentioned in our last email. For those of you attending Winterlude 2005, Grace Chapel's Women's Ministries annual retreat, we will be offering a workshop to discuss the book. Look out for details in your mail.

Jesus invites us to COME to him. What picture do you have of Jesus as he says to you “COME to me”? Is it of Jesus with his hands, scarred hands, outstretched patiently waiting and waiting for you to respond to his invitation? What stops you from coming to Jesus? Spend a few moments thinking about the things or maybe the one thing that stops you from accepting Jesus’ invitation. Sometimes we don’t think we are acceptable, sometimes it is fear or pride. Maybe you know Jesus well and have known him a long time but still it’s time to accept his invitation again. Maybe you are eager to come – you’re just dragging a burden with you. In Matthew 11:28 , Jesus says "COME to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest" (NLT).

In our study of the Gospel of John at Joy Bible Study and the Women’s Evening Bible Study this week, we learned that Jesus invited the first disciples to COME with him and stay with him. They were a bit rough around the edges, to say the least, but Jesus could see their potential and by spending time with him their lives were transformed.

Jesus waits patiently for us to respond to his invitation, but why? Because he knows what it is like to COME. This is what he says about himself:

“I have not COME on my own; but he (God ) sent me.” (John 8:42 )

“I have COME in my Father's name.” (John 5:43 )

“The hour has COME. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.” (Mark 14:41b )

Jesus came to this earth, not to do anything attractive or easy. If you watched The Passion of the Christ movie, you will know from the opening scenes that Jesus struggled with the task that God had asked him to come to earth to do. But, he accepted his task and humbly offered himself for death, a painful death, taking on the sin of the world even though he was sinless. (Luke 24:45-47, Mark 10:45 ).

When we accept Jesus’ invitation and come to him we do not have to suffer in the way Jesus did, the price has already been paid, but instead we are offered life. “I have COME that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10b )

The story does not end there. Jesus promises he will COME again. In the book of Revelation we are told many times “Behold, I am coming soon.” (Revelation 22:12 ). We will see our Jesus.

So, COME and worship, COME and rest, COME and be transformed, COME and have life.

Messy Spirituality

A number of us within Women's Ministries are reading a book called Messy Spirituality by Michael Yaconelli (Don't worry, this isn't the Book & Movie Club). As I was reading the other night I was struck by the story of the Samaritan woman whom Jesus met at the well. The story is in John 4, if you want to familiarize yourself with it.

This woman was so excited about meeting Jesus. "Come see a man who told me everything I did" (John 4:29 ). Well, her life wasn't really anything to get excited about, in fact it was rather messy. She'd had five husbands and was living with a man who wasn't her husband. Her life would probably even look messy in our society today. On top of that she was rejected by the people living around her.

I think meeting Jesus meant that the woman saw the messiness of her life. She probably knew it was there but Jesus revealed it as mess. You're probably thinking, "I don't want my messiness exposed thank you very much". Well, me neither but the thing about Jesus is that he knows it's there. Jesus does not condemn the woman. And so with us, we might try and hide our messiness behind a composed exterior but when we get in front of Jesus and see him then we see our messiness too. Jesus does not condemn us either when we search for him.

Instead, Jesus offers to take our messiness and make us children of God (1 John 3:1 ), he calls us "precious in his sight" (Isaiah 43:4 ) and gives us a clean new heart (Ezekiel 36:26 ). What an exchange!

When Jesus was hanging on the cross, he had two very messy people hanging either side of him. One man recognized who Jesus was, the son of God who takes away the sin of the world, and in that instance Jesus had taken his messiness and offered him paradise (Luke 23:39-43). Jesus was looking pretty messy himself at that moment; rejected by his own society and the ruling society, condemned to death and physically beaten up. But God said of him "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased" (Luke 3:22 ).

Handing our messiness to Jesus is ongoing. When I kneel before Jesus in prayer, I feel over again that I'm saying "Here I am again, messy me!" But Jesus is smiling down at me, reminding me that I am a child of God and I can get to my feet knowing the Jesus loves messy people, Jesus came and died for messy people and Jesus forgives messy people.

Let my teaching fall like rain...

"Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. I will proclaim the name of the Lord."

A couple of weeks ago I decided that some bright yellow hardy mums in pots would look very attractive on my front doorstep. However I am a hopeless gardener and always forget to water my plants. My beautiful yellow hardy mums were starting to droop and wither. I was so thankful for the rain of last week. My plants are now flourishing. The blossoms are numerous and bright and the plants are standing upright again.

Our special bible verse for this year, at the beginning of this letter, talks about God's words in the Bible being like rain . We grow spiritually when we're watered abundantly with God's Word. This means constantly spending time reading God's Word, not sporadically like my plant watering. Maybe you're like new grass or a tender shoot in your spiritual life, then we encourage you to try our Bible Studies where we regularly read and look to understand God's Word. Join us at Joy Bible Study or Women's Evening Bible Study(WEBS) on Tuesday mornings and evenings respectively. If you're unable to do this then we hope to help through these emails each week with a thought from God's Word.

We also want to keep you up-to date with the Women's Ministries calendar. Here are our up and coming opportunities...

Date Night, October 16, 2004
Rekindle the Flame is the theme for the Marriage Events this year, this is the first in a series of three events: October 16, February 12, and the Marriage Getaway-April 8-10. Surprise your sweetheart with a special night out - all you have to do is call the sitter, we do the rest!! Call Carolyn at 781 862 8351 x149 to register or get more details.


From The Heart, Nov 5 and Nov 6, Doubletree Hotel Watham.

This is a pre-holiday treat to enjoy with friends maybe from work, your neighborhood, other soccer moms or family members. Spend Friday evening together having dinner, creating a beautiful holiday craft, enjoying some Christmas music and listening to our wonderful speaker Sharon Anderson. Or spend a few hours together on Saturday morning enjoying breakfast together and, as on Friday evening, the craft, music and speaker. Click on the link above to see our web site and more information.

Winterlude, January 14-16, 2005, Sea Crest Resort and Convention Center

Registrations are pouring in quickly for our retreat. Don't delay in grabbing some friends or your mom or daughter and decide to spend the weekend together seeking out the opportunity to spend time away from your usual schedule. You will be amazed at what you experience. Last year we had a frozen ocean, limbo dancing and a speaker who challenged us to be "big girls". For Winterlude 2005 our speaker is Lysa TerKeurst, author of "Radically Obedient, Radically Blessed". It will be an invitation to seek God and boldly ask for and expect more from the Christian life. See you at Winterlude!

Register in the lower lobby on Sunday morning or print out a form online and mail in. Registration is filling up fast for these events so don't delay.