We've been mentioning bees a lot this morning.
Our theme is around bees, and I want to talk about bees for a
number of reasons. In fact two specific reasons,
because I think they can teach us something.
I think there's something we can learn from them.
And I thought what better place to talk about bees?
That in every generation service causes a good game to be played.
Hopefully you've all written on your post it something sweet
about God that you've experienced or something sweet
you've read about God from the Bible.
If you haven't done that, feel free to do that at the end of
the service and stick it onto one of the beehives out there.
In the game we had some dance moves.
As we said, some of them was the the bottom wiggling sting, some
of it was the flapping arms. But did you know that bees use
dance moves to direct other bees to pollen?
It's what they do. They dance to direct the rest of
the hive to wear. A good source of pollen is and
they do this because nectar is a sweet source of energy and
strength for bees. So directing the colony to the
best source is a way that the colony stays strong,
particularly through the winter months.
And as Christians we draw strength.
We don't draw strength from honey.
Honey is tasty and it strengthens our bodies.
But we draw spiritual strength from God's word and from His
spirit. We draw strength from those
things. And so I want us to think a
little bit about that together. How do we keep our nectar supply
full? How do we keep full on God's
spirit? How do we keep full on God's
word? Like bees dance to .1 another to
nectar. We all of us here can .1 another
to the source of our strength to God.
And so for that I'm going to ask some people up to come and help.
This is an every generation service and I thought, what
better thing to do than ask a few people last week if they
wouldn't mind coming up and sharing just for 60 seconds.
Something sweet about God. Something to encourage us about
God. Something maybe they've read in
the Bible, something they've experienced in their life, and a
way for us to be able to strengthen and encourage one
another to do that. So could I.
Welcome up on stage that group of people who I have messaged
and communicated with. Do you want to come up on stage?
Let's clap them as they come forward.
Welcome. Welcome.
Do you come up on the stairs? The stairs here.
Stairs there. Welcome.
Do you come forward?
Welcome, Welcome. If you want to make a line along
the front here, that would be great for us, please.
Wonderful. Excellent.
Hello. Hello.
Welcome. Excellent.
Hey, hey. So I'm going to hand the mic
along, and then you can just pass it from one person to the
next. And so I wonder if as we're
listening, I just spend a moment listening to their words and
maybe one of these people, as they share, might really speak
to your heart. Maybe imagine like bees dance
and .1 another to honey. Maybe imagine these guys doing
their little spiritual dance to point us towards a source of
goodness and strength. And so I'll start with Tenny.
If I pass you the mic and then just pass it down the line after
you spoke and that would be great.
If you could introduce yourself as you go along, that would be
great. Hi everyone, I'm Tenny and today
I'm going to talk to you about a certain story in the Bible that
has really stood out to me recently.
This story is the story of Samuel.
Samuel was the son of a woman named Hannah and he was raised
in the Tabernacle by a priest called Eli.
One night Samuel was lying down and he heard a voice calling out
to him saying Samuel Samuel. So Samuel immediately got up
from his rest and ran to Eli's room.
But to his surprise, Eli said I did not call you my son.
Go back to where you were. This happened three times until
Eli realized it was God calling Samuel.
So when the voice called out to Samuel again, Eli told him it is
the Lord who is calling you, not me.
So when you hear the voice again, say yes, Lord, your
servant is listening. So when Samuel heard the voice
again, he did as Eli told him to.
I really connected with this story, not only because of how
God was directly speaking to Samuel, but also because it
shows that we have the power to directly speak to God.
This story taught me that no matter how deep in sin or hurt
we are, we can always call on the Lord and He will answer us
and we can follow Him completely.
In reality, He never stopped calling us in the 1st place, so
we just need to listen to Him and He will guide us through all
the ups and downs no matter how hard it is.
So if you ever believe that God doesn't want anything to do with
you, stop believing that, because He is the one calling
you to follow Him. Amen.
Wow, that was so sweet. I don't know how to top that.
Yeah, yeah, it was really good. So for me, I was really thinking
about there was just so many to pick from.
But I think the one that I personally went with is.
A time when I was just going through it, I was just going
through life. And I'd been reading actually
the past that we don't like to read in the Bible, where he
talks about the measurements and he talks about, you know,
creating and making the Tabernacle and the priest
garments. And then later on, of course you
you see similar things happening with the wall of with the wall
of Jerusalem at the end, with the stones and everything now.
That's a lot of information, but I did bring a prop with me.
So I was going through a really difficult time and I was praying
and God was showing me these things, and he started speaking
to me about making a necklace together, and he wanted to make
a necklace with me. And so I went, and I found the
stones. Each stone, again coming from
the inspiration of the war of Jerusalem and also right in the
middle there, the orange really signifying the Holy Spirit.
And again, because there's 5 stones on this, the number of
grace in scripture. So everywhere I go I try to take
it with me. I don't idolize it, but I just,
it's just a reminder that God is saying, hey, I'm with you even
when you're going through difficult times.
And the last thing I'll say about this as well is when I did
all of this, I did it in faith. I didn't have the money.
But then, as soon as it was ready for me to pay for it, God
delivered the money. And it came from where I didn't
even think. I didn't even know it was coming
from. So I.
Just praise God for for the little things, because yeah,
that's my sweet story. Hi, I'm Tamina and on Easter
Sunday 2023 I got baptized. It was amazing and all my loved
ones were there with me and it was a huge day, but after I was
quite confused. I wondered, why am I not feeling
closer to God like the people online do?
What I didn't realize was that not everything happens right
away. It comes when God chooses for it
to come. My sweet moment was at DTI.
At DTI we spent every morning and every evening worshipping
God with thousands of others. Lively songs and amazing sermons
that, at least for me, felt me, make me feel more seen by God
during. Today there were many seminars
giving us greater understanding of God, also including
activities. At times, even during the after
hours, we spent lots of time with God, one of the best parts
being I was surrounded by other people also on fire for God.
So I might not have felt very connected to with God when I
first got baptized, but the sweet moment was soon after.
I loved it. Good morning to you here and
online. My name is Wendy and I represent
the younger part of this group here.
And I love this theme about bees and doing their dance and just
directing to the source of nectar, which is Jesus the
sweetness. Don't you love the way that he
infuses unexpected times and places with his presence, The
sweetness of his presence? So instead of talking about
scripture, which is what I usually do when I get up here, I
want to talk about 3 instances this week where I was just so
overwhelmed by this infusion. And it's an unseen intimacy.
Nobody looking on the outside would even know.
But it's an unseen intimacy of the sweetness of his presence.
And one was on Wednesday when I was working at Refuel in the
kitchen. Sharon was there, and we were
just filled with joy. It was one of those mornings as
we had the big pots and we were cooking.
There was the joy of the Lord that was almost tangible and
wonderful. And when I drove home
afterwards, it was bubbling and I just knew he had been with us
in that kitchen as we were chopping and working and
stirring in the most extraordinary and beautiful way,
the sweetness of his presence. And then the next day, on
Thursday, I was collecting at a big supermarket in Saint Albans
for my Rotary Club. We always stand with the bucket
and we collect for the homeless and for refugees and for polio
eradication. I've done it so many times, but
as I stood there this Thursday, three times, and it's never
happened before, people came by who really looked as if they
didn't have much to give, but they came and they dropped a few
coins in the bucket. And on 3 occasions, first was a
young man, second was a woman and the third was an older man,
came up. And as they looked at me, they
said I'm giving to this charity because I was homeless.
And through what you're doing, somebody helped me and got me
back on my feet. And that happened one after the
next, this last Thursday when I was collecting for a couple of
hours and I was overwhelmed in those moments by the sweetness
of a compassion and the love of Jesus to such an extent I wanted
to hug them. That's our Lord.
And then finally Friday night. It was a beautiful big moon.
And as I got into bed, I opened my curtains because it was clear
and the moonlight was shining in and I fell asleep in the main
light. But I woke up some hours later
with this intense light. It was like a spotlight shining
in and I got up and I thought, what is the time?
I checked on my phone. It was three in the morning and
I looked outside and there was this huge moon and around it is
something I've never seen, a rainbow, a huge Halo rainbow
around the moon. And I looked it up on my phone
and it it is because of the ice crystals.
The refraction of moonlight on ice crystals causes a rainbow
Halo effect. I've never seen that and I was
just lost in the wonder of the awe of our creation.
Creator, the magnificence of God who is the master of this
universe. So I wanted to share the joy in
the kitchen, the compassion standing, collecting with the
bucket, and the glory of God in my room.
Sweet moments of his presence. That was so beautiful.
And The funny thing is I'm going to talk about his presence as
well. So God is so good now because
I've got 2 minutes. Pastor Edward, I've been told my
family is laughing. Like when you talk about the
sweetness of God, there's so much to say and it's hard to
pick something I don't know about anyone else.
But anyway, 2 minutes of this. So let me start by just saying.
Let me just. Hello, darling.
It's my son. My sweetness.
Hello, darling. In a minute.
Let Mummy, do you stand next to
Mummy. Thank you so much.
So let me just start by saying that I was having such a
challenging situation and it just turned into a challenging
hour, a challenging day, a challenging week, a challenging
month. And it just felt like everything
around me was just spiring out of control.
You know one of those seasons now, no matter what you try to
do. To try to sort the situation
out, it just gets worse. And I was just thinking to
myself, what do I do next? What do I do next?
But I just thought, I just want to be in His presence.
What I hadn't done for at this time was to sit and be in God's
presence. And thank you darling and.
So when I was when I was sitting thinking about how I can just be
in God's presence, I just thought the best thing I can do
just go to his word. I went over to Isaiah 30 chapter
Isaiah 30 starting from 19. I'm reading from that amplified
Bible and it reads. We will weep no longer.
He will most certainly be gracious to us at the sound of
our cry for help. When he hears it, he will answer
it then goes on to say your ears will hear a word behind you.
This. This is the way to walk in it.
Whether you turn to the left or you turn to the right, His sweet
presence is with you always. So I just want to say, as you
start to walk to work, you just get God's sweet presence.
As you walk into the operating theatre, get God's presence.
When you're going into that meter room, you're not sure what
to say or to or to do get into God's presence.
God's presence is what we need. And then you're going to be
like, OK, Elizabeth, how do I get this presence, you know?
And I just want to say the best way we can get some way, sorry
you can get his presence is by prayer.
Just ask him for it. Ask him for his presence.
Ask him to come and just be with us during that time.
Be around, fellow believers. And we have a connect group,
Luton Dance ball, quick shout out or you can go to any connect
group that is close to you. And the good thing about our
church is we have a connect group every single day of the
week for us to be able to connect to other people even
when we're feeling weak and you get around your fellow people,
they will make us strong during that time in his presence.
Then let me just quickly just end by saying that we can try to
look for everything else. And we can try to get that
friend who can help us. We can look at that comedy kind
of movie that can just make us laugh.
We can go to our spies. And let me just quickly say, I
have a lovely spouse who's behind me here, and he really
does help cultivate me. He's like, in a positive way.
He's like my lifter upper. But actually, when you're going
through stuff, you need God's presence.
Those things are beautiful within itself.
But actually just sitting in God's presence is what actually
meets our needs. When we're looking for
something, it's God's presence is what will be with us always.
Let me end by saying my prayer for us today is maybe constantly
being God's presence and rest in his sweet, perfect peace.
Amen. Amen.
That's beautiful.
Good. Job.
Oh, thank you, darling. Precious.
Excellent. Thank you so much, each of you.
As they take their seats, let's clap them to encourage.
That was beautiful, wasn't it? Hearing those different moments
of sweetness that each of them have experienced, and hopefully
within that there was something that might point you to Jesus as
they did their little honeybee dance, a taste and see that the
Lord is good. Psalm 34, verse eight, we taste
and see that the Lord is good. Doing that in community is the
most pungent way to taste God's goodness.
As I make my second point, maybe I can invite the band up and I
could probably pass this microphone to my wife, thank you
very much. My second point is that each of
us play a different role within our church.
Each of us, whatever age or stage we're at, we play a
different role in our church community.
We are family together and we are strong as each of us play
their different role. Ephesians 2 verse 10 says this.
You're probably familiar with it, for we are God's handiwork
created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared
in advance for us to do. You are God's handiwork.
You might be doubting that this morning, but can I tell you that
God's word says that over your life that you have been shaped
and formed? There's nothing irregularly
wrong with you. There's something beautifully
irregular with each of us, and that uniqueness is what calls
you into God's purposes for your life.
Each of us have a uniqueness. We need to step into that.
Did you know that foraging scouts the honey bees?
They can travel up to 14 kilometres from their beehive to
find new sources of nectar that helps the colony to become
efficient, encouraging them to channel their energy towards
more nutritious areas. The hive is therefore filled
with healthy, nutritious honey, particularly through the winter
months. I think there's something
prophetic in this for us because if the scalp bees decided they
wanted to be hive bees and instead of going out to find
this rich source of nectar, they were trying to repair cracks in
the hive or cover foreign particles that are too large to
remove, then there'll be a reduction in the quality and
quantity of the honey in that hive.
If the hive bees decided they no longer wanted to build those
structures, but instead they would rather do something
different, then they would cause an issue with the structure of
the hive and being able to store the honey that's required.
Each of us have been blessed with a set of gifts that are
there to build the church. Both build the church locally
here, but build God's global capital C church across the
nations. And so can I ask some questions?
What role or what roles can you excel at?
Which will build his church? What ways on Sunday here or what
ways through the week here? Can you help build the church
community at What ways beyond this church family Can you help
extend the reach to reach the lost?
There's a dying world out there, and we want to love them.
Well, whatever your age, whatever your stage, whatever
your situation, God is calling you.
God is calling you into community where we dance
together and God is calling us into community where we serve
together. If you feel like you're not sure
where you're called to, if you feel like you're struggling with
that, then do come and talk to one of the pastors.
Talk to your connect group leader, Talk to a friend.
So we've been thinking about bees a lot.
I'm going to bring this in to close now just to remind us of
those two points. First of all, that we can help
one another to taste and see that the Lord is good.
Do you have a bee dance that can point others to God?
And the 2nd is that we are called and equipped.
We are called and equipped. Ephesians teaches us that we are
God's handiwork created in Christ Jesus to do good works.
So whatever your role is for building the church, we need
you. If we want to stand, we're going
to have a time of worship.