hello guys,
long time no speak huh... i know, i know, you can all stop shouting 'its about time to' now! hehe
So yes a few weeks back i went away to a christian conference called word alive, which is part of something bigger called spring harvest. Word alive is the student week at skegness. It was a very good week despite all the problems i had to face, and i hope that i learnt a lot of stuff which will help me to grow and develop in my faith.
Even though at times during the week i did not particually feel as if God was with me, i know he was, and he helped a lot... not just me but my friends around me too, to be able to cope with me.
I started the week panicing, i didn't know anyone in my challet and that really scared me and i freaked. I was really depressed at the biginning of the week, and i struggled with that. The second part of the week was not that much better, i went manic, and ended up really hurting people. I told paul that i wanted to break up... i really wasn't thinking straight at all... i was a different person apparently... though when i came through it all i could feel that i really was a different person. The End of the week ended positively... Paul got back the adele he knows and loves, and i got to feel 'normal' again, something that i hadn't felt in a LONG time. I was lost... but thanks to God, he brought me out of the deep mess that i was in. It was also a bad week physically, i was in some of the worst pain that i have ever been in, and ended up using the wheelchair that we had hired, all week. and when not using the chair i had to use the crutches, and couldn't get away without them without being in immense pain, and also legs collapsing at times. Thank you to God for being my only painkiller.
One of the talks that Hit me the most, was a talk by Kent Hughs on
Mark 2:1-12I want to share with you the talk that he gave, please bare with me... or skip past to the end of the post if you are not interested, but please read if you can. This talk also has a link with Easter. So i will take the time now to say a happy belated easter. I hope that the joy of knowing the risen lord shines through you each day!
Jesus is in capernaum at a house, the authorities have been sent to see if they could get anything against the 'rabi', lots of people have gathered to see Jesus and the atmosphere is really charged.
The roof of the house would have been made of twigs and branches, beams and compacted mud. The men bringing the paralytic to see Jesus would have had to break through all this so that they could lower the man down into the house. The men must have really loved and cared for this man, so much that they would destroy someones house for him.
The paryletic man was a very rich because he had people that really loved him. The four men had something even better, they had faith. The men must have had huge faith that Jesus could/would heal this man. The men took this man in with violence, determination and force.
Believing faith finds a way. These men were sacrificial. They has a 'missionary' faith.
Faith is about action. Mark is the 'Go' gospel as it is so 'Go' pact.
We need to passionatly believe that Jesus can change us. The real cripples were the pharisies and the scribes. They didn't show faith.
Jesus saying to the man 'your sins are forgiven' would have been a little bit of a lightning bolt, thats not what he wanted. He wanted healing and Jesus didn't tell him that he was healed. But Jesus wanted to get to his greatest need first.
The man may have not been able to go and commit sins like commiting adultry or stealing, but sin is not about our actions, but about our hearts. Jesus knew that his spiritual need was far greater then his physical. When Jesus forgave the man he was being set apart from hell, and was given eternal life. Our greatest need is forgiveness of sins.
verse 6-7 is Jesus making a declaration that he is God.
God alone can save sins. The pharasies would have thought that Jesus was blaspheming.
It is far easier to say your sins are forgiven then it is to say 'rise take up your bed and walk' (vs 9)
Jesus then shocks the people again by telling the man to 'rise pick up your bed and go home' (vs 11)
For Jesus the easiest thing was to say 'take up your bed and walk' Jesus spoke and the world was created, so saying take up your bed and walk was easy.
What was hard for him to say was ' my son your sins are forgiven' (vs 5) becuase he knew that meant his death. Jesus died the lowest of all deaths. Jesus remained sinless when he bore our sins for us. He took our sins with understanding. Willingly so that he could say 'son your sins are forgiven' Jesus died the hardest thing in all eternity.
The paralytic went home with a clean pure heart.
Jesus can do anything he wants, his greatest thing is forgiving our sins.
Our greatest need is still the same today. The greatest mirical is not the physical but the spiritual.
Jesus humbled himself to the point of death, even death on a cross.
I hope that made sense, as what i have written out was my notes, with some lil bits i still remmy from the talk added in to try and link it together a lil better... This talk made me really cry, and writing it here has made me tearful once again... Jesus died and rose again for me!!! He did all this so that i could spend all eternity with him... there is nothing in this world more amazing then that! I just can't emphesise how amazing and great this truth is! :)
There were also many other great talks that week, this is just one of the many.
well done if you have got through reading this far!!!
To finish with i will post some pics to show of our week away. (with those from surrey christian union! and also tigz)
in the back, charl, front left to right- tigz, cat, sophie(my challet and room mate) and chris.
this is Jo and rachel (my challet mates, and lovely people they were too, thanks so much guys... they are however not from USCU)
this picture is one of chris, sophie and charl getting their all you can eat pizza (yum yum!!!)
This is a picture of us all eating pizza.
This is of us all at an evening celebration with special guests noddy and tigger. also introducing ruth in the CU hoddie.
PRAISE GOD POINTS
-for all the teaching that will help me to grow in you!
- for sending your son into the world so that our sins may be forgiven
- for being my only painkiller
-for being with me during my times of need
- for the friendships you have given me
- for being sovereign!!!:D
AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!
