Category: Thoughts

Well folks, once again we are faced with an end of year shortfall in our income – this time to the tune of £22,000! There are several reasons for this – lower offerings, rising costs, and the rise in our contributions to the Church of Scotland in general. However, if we don’t meet the deficit this year, we will have to take a close look at those costs, especially the costs of our much valued paid staff.

How are we going to respond? At our last Kirk Session meeting, we agreed that the answer is actually very simple, and can be found in the pages of the Bible itself. We could all try to tithe. If we all did, then, given the size of our membership, Liberton Kirk’s financial problems would soon be a thing of the past.

What is a tithe? To tithe is to give the first tenth of your income to God. This is a concept that first appears in the book of Genesis (14.17-20), and then re-appears throughout the Old Testament. In Jesus day tithing was assumed to be a part of everyday life, so much so that the Pharisees are accused by Jesus of taking it to ridiculous extremes (Luke 11.42).

Tithing is not a rule to be followed religiously, rather it is a way of understanding life itself. When we tithe, here are some important things to bear in mind.

• Tithing is an act of faith rather than one of calculation. It’s our way of saying we trust that the God, who has looked after us so far, will continue so to do
• Tithing is not about giving to God, rather it is about giving back to God from all that he has already given us
• To tithe is to give the ‘first fruits’ (see http://www.openbible.info/topics/first_fruits). In other words, to tithe is to give your first tenth to God, and only then to sit down and work out what you are going to do with the rest
• Tithing is not limited to money, but includes the offering of our time and our talents
• The Bible promises us that tithing is a way of sharing in in God’s blessing (Proverbs 3.9-10; Malachi 3.10)

Here at Liberton, there is no doubt that if we all tried to tithe, it would mean an end not just to this deficit, but to all future ones as well. Tithing is a living demonstration of an authentic faith, and the sign of a healthy church – attractive to those looking for something real in a shallow and superficial world.

Let me finish with Jesus’ own words (Luke 6.37-8) –

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Much love

John

I have a lot of time for the writer Timothy Keller, and recently he has pointed to one of the major paradoxes of our day when he says,

“We live in an age when both belief and scepticism are on the rise.”

It’s true. Our generation is more open to exploring the ‘spiritual’ side of life than the generation before us, while at the same time we are not slow in asking questions and voicing doubts, particularly when it comes to Christianity.

And rightly so! Even when we set to one side the crude belligerence of the so called ‘New Atheists’, championed by the likes of Richard Dawkins, there are times when even the most devout believer has had to face up to serious questions about their faith. For example…

• Is it not arrogance to believe that Jesus is the only way to the Father?
• How can we believe in a good God, when he allows so much suffering?
• How can we claim that our faith sets us free – is it not more likely the opposite?
• How can we say we follow the ‘Prince of Peace’, when religion seems to cause so many wars?
• How can we say ‘God is love’ and still believe in Hell?
• How can we still believe in God in the face of the rise of science?
• How can we use the Bible as our guide, when it seems to be full of contradictions?

One of the signs of a growing faith is that it is not afraid of scepticism. Doubt is not a bad thing. It forces us to go focus on why we believe something, and why it is important to us. It forces us to keep an open mind, and not get too set in our ways. It keeps us on our toes and keeps our faith alive.

In his first letter to the church at Corinth, Paul likens the Christians there to infants, still having to make do with milk, when by now they should have progressed to more solid foods. In the coming weeks, we plan to offer a menu of such solid foods at our SIX30 service on Sunday evenings in the Kirkgate Cafe. Over the course of seven weeks we will be giving a series of talks based on some of the major questions that cause us to doubt. A small team of speakers will take it in turn to do this, drawing on material from Timothy Keller’s book, ‘The Reason for God’, and there will be plenty of time for reflection and discussion.

The Kirkgate Café is exactly that – a café, which means tea and coffee will be available throughout. You can aim for 6.30pm, or you can come early. Everyone is welcome. The series begins on Sunday 20th September. Hope to see you soon.

John

At the beginning of May we issued the ‘Living Stones Challenge’ – that over the next 12 months, everyone present find another ‘living stone’ to add to our number, so that in a year’s time our numbers will have doubled.

Over the years, Liberton Kirk has proved itself a good place to be. We have a variety of services (on Sundays and other days), a great sense of family, regular Alpha courses, and lots of ways of making people welcome, included, and involved. Together with other churches in our area, we offer God’s love in a variety of ways and projects to the needy, the outcaste, and the stranger. Finally, we have a thriving Kirk Centre, which is the ideal place to meet and get to know a huge variety of people from the local community. All that is needed now is for us to introduce them to Jesus.

How do we do this? Do we bribe, cajole, blackmail, demand, or trick people into becoming part of our worldwide spiritual family? No, we simply ask God to create ‘Kingdom moments’ – moments when His presence breaks into their lives.

EG…

So, to be part of the Living Stones Challenge, each one of us needs to commit to the following:

• To pray each day, that God will create a ‘Kingdom Moment’ for you to be part of
• And, when you sense that moment has come, to simply allow God to use you to point someone towards Jesus

“You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2.5)

In the coming months, we will all have the chance to take part in the re-enactment of a well-known parable in the streets and lanes of Liberton. It’s a parable Jesus once told, of a man who prepared a great feast. When none of the invited guests wanted to come, his response was to send his servants out into the streets and alleys of the town, and into the country lanes and byways, and invite whoever they found (see Luke 14).

This summer we will have the opportunity to take on the role of these servants not just once but three times, in a modern day version of this parable. Our task will be to deliver the following sets of invitations:

• Firstly, as part of our bicentenary celebrations we will be inviting all the residents of our parish to a special Community Tea on the 13^th of June
• Secondly, we will be inviting all local children to our annual Holiday Club which will take place at the beginning of August. (The theme of the club this year will be ‘Frozen’, the hugely successful Disney production which, surprisingly, has caught the imagination of girls and boys alike)
• Thirdly, we will be inviting everybody to get involved in our full Autumn programme of events and activities, through the parish-wide delivery of the September edition of this magazine, (packed as it will be full of details of all that is going on).

As with parish-wide deliveries of past years, we will need everybody’s help to get these invitations out as quickly as we can, so that no one misses out.

You may well be thinking, “Who is going to pay any attention to just another mail-drop?” Who does or doesn’t pay attention is not for us to say. The important difference between there and other mail-drops is that, for us, this shouldn’t be just about posting things through letter boxes. Rather, it will be our opportunity to pray for every home we deliver them to. (And by prayer, I just mean something simple, like “May God bless you, this year, with the knowledge of his love!”)

Last week’s ‘Celtic Devotions’ included a meditation on Jesus promise to us in John 14, when he said

“You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!” (John 14.13-14)

Imagine what would happen if every single home in our parish were prayed for, not just once, but three times in the coming months! Imagine what would happen if they were blessed with the knowledge of God’s great love for them, made known in Jesus!

Much love

John