Monthly Message May-Jun 2023

“Enoch walked with God” (Genesis 5:24)

Dear friends,

What a wonderful picture: Enoch walking with God!  Amos 3:3 poses the question, “Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?”  Such sweet agreement and common purpose there must have been between Enoch and God, and between God and Enoch.

Noah also “walked with God” (Gen 6:9) and of Abraham it is said that he walked before God (Gen 17:1).  All three were men of faith and consequently of obedience; and that is the implication of walking with God.  Indeed, Micah 6:8 points out that what the Lord requires of us (i.e. obedience) includes “walk(ing) humbly with your God”.

But how can we walk with God? Do we not so often part company as we wander down a by-path? Couldn’t we just leave it to the spiritual ‘experts’?  After all Enoch clocked up some 300 years’ experience of walking with God.  But notice what happened to Enoch: “…then he was no more, because God took him away”. Does that not foreshadow our Saviour, Jesus Christ?  He walked with his Father in total and utter obedience.  That walk took him to the cross, and through death to resurrection and ascension, returning to his Father’s side – mission accomplished!  God ‘took him away’ and then sent the Holy Spirit to come alongside, and indwell, his people empowering them to ‘walk with God’ until, one day, we too will go to the Father!

Because Jesus ‘walked with God’ all who are ‘in Christ’ can do so, too.  “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:6). As with Enoch, so with us, it is possible to walk with God.  But as with Enoch, so with us, it is not by our merit or by God’s free grace.

May he richly bless you as you continue in your walk with him wherever that walk may lead, because ultimately it leads us home to his Father and ours.

In Christ,

Tony Mason

Monthly Message Mar-Apr 2023

Dear friends,

“Let there be light.”  Genesis 1:3

Are you enjoying the lighter mornings and longer evening daylight?  Whether literal or metaphorical, light is always preferable to darkness.

At creation God brought light into darkness, order into chaos and life into lifelessness.  “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(Gen 1:2). So, even before Day 1, darkness was there but also God was there!  Then the first thing he said was: “Let there be light” – and there was light, because God said so.  (The Hebrew word for ‘word’ is the same as the word for ‘deed’. For the practical Hebrews words and actions went together!   When God speaks, he acts; whatever he says is as good as done. Or, to put it another way, God always acts on his word).  Light is not only the work of God, it is also the will of God.

How much darkness there is and how much we need light; not least in the areas of sexuality, the economy, ethics, personal and international relationships and in our understanding of truth.  Psalm 119:30 says: “The entrance (or, unfolding) of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple”.  Through the Holy Spirit, expository preaching and prayerful personal reading of the Bible is precisely that – the unfolding of the Word of God.   Bible Focus seeks to be one among many means by which God  ‘unfolds’ his Word to give better understanding; and better understanding enriches our discipleship which, in turn, brings yet greater glory to our Lord Jesus Christ through lives reflecting his grace. “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin”. (I John 1:7).

Not only did Jesus say that he is the light of the world (John 8:12), but he said that his disciples are, too (Matt 5:14).  What a provision!  What a ministry! What a need!  “O Lord, let there be light”.

Thank you to all those who were able to join us for prayer on the 18th: a time of fellowship and renewal of hope.  Details of the next prayer opportunity will be sent out in due course.

Yours, in Christ,

Tony Mason

Monthly Message Feb 2023

Dear friends,

“…contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.”  Jude 3

Some of you reading this are deeply troubled.  You are concerned about the tensions in the church today in the whole area of same-sex ‘marriage’ and gender identity.  There may be other problems, too, that seem to be handled in such a way as to lead only to compromise and/or division.

When our starting point, as is so often the case, is human opinion and expediency then tension is bound to follow.  We must, rather, “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (Heb 12:2).  In him is both grace and truth (John 1:17), and, hard though it may be, we who seek to follow him must aim to demonstrate both.

Grace: we need to guard against, or even repent of, a lack of love towards those with whom we disagree.  We can reject a viewpoint without rejecting the person who holds it.  To love someone is to want the very best for them, and surely we want the very best for those we deem to be in error. We are to embrace such people but that does not mean we affirm them.

Truth:   we also need to be sure we take our agenda, our core values, from the Scriptures and not from the world. “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world” writes Paul in Romans 12:2, “but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will”.

These are critical days, and if the people of God are going to stand firm for grace and truth they will face opposition and attack in various ways. But if the church is to avoid further spiritual and numerical decline but rather rise up to greater holiness and powerful gospel proclamation let us resolve to commit ourselves to prayer for repentance, renewal and revival as individuals, churches and a nation.  Let us pray, too, for the gift of discernment so that we might carry out the command, and heed the warning, of Jude 3-4:

“Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a licence for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord”.

Finally, may I remind you of the Spring Event coming up soon on the 11th March. Due to limited space places should be booked by 28th February (swbible.focus@gmail.com). We shall meet at the Salvation Army Hall in Abbey Lane, Saffron Walden from 10.00am to 12.00 noon, with the theme: “Elijah – a man for our times”.  There’ll be opportunity for fellowship, discussion and prayer. I hope to see you there.

Yours, in Christ,

Tony Mason